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HISTORICAL  SURVEY 


OP 

PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/detajls/historicalsurvey00laur_0 


HISTORICAL  SURVEY 


OF 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


BY 

S.  S.  LAURIE,  A.M.,  LL.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  THE  INSTITUTES  AND  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  EDINBURGH;  AUTHOR  OF  ‘INSTITUTES  OF  EDUCATION,’  ‘LANGUAGE 
AND  LINGUISTIC  METHOD  IN  THE  SCHOOL,’  ‘LIFE  AND  EDUCA¬ 
TIONAL  WRITINGS  OF  COMENIUS,’  ETC. 


SECOND  EDITION,  REVISED 


LONGMANS,  GREEN,  AND  CO. 

91  AND  93  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK 
LONDON  AND  BOMBAY 

1900 


Copyright,  1900,  by 
LONGMANS,  GREEN,  AND  CO. 

All  rights  reserved. 


Mntbersttjj  Press: 

John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge,  U.  S.  A. 


PREFACE 


This  book  is  a  historical  survey,  not  a  history.  At  the  same 
time  I  believe  that  nothing  essential  to  the  understanding  of 
pre-Christian  education  has  been  omitted. 

In  traversing  so  wide  a  field,  I  cannot  expect  to  have 
escaped  errors :  I  hope  these  are  of  a  minor  kind  and  that 
they  will  be  pointed  out.  Certain  opinions  may  be  considered 
erroneous  by  some  of  the  experts  in  the  various  departments 
of  historical  inquiry  in  which  I  have  involved  myself :  but 
until  experts  are  themselves  at  one,  I  may  be  allowed  to 
form  my  own  judgment. 

The  greatest  difficulty  that  presented  itself  was  the  giving 
expression,  within  the  limits  of  a  few  pages,  to  the  religious 
and  ethical  attitude  of  the  various  nations  of  antiquity  to 
life  and  its  duties.  Brief  statements  on  so  all-important  a 
matter  cannot  fail  to  be  inadequate,  and  this  all  the  more 
because  the  gradual  historical  development  of  religious  beliefs 
has,  for  our  purposes,  to  be  ignored. 

My  aim  has  been  to  seize  the  leading  religious  and  social 
characteristics  of  pre-Christian  societies  as  these  were  actually 
found  operative  in  the  life  of  the  people  of  each  nation  taken 
as  a  whole.  For  example,  the  purified  and  abstract  religious 


VI 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION. 


conceptions  of  the  Greek  dramatists  and  philosophers  are  in 
the  history  of  thought  of  surpassing  value,  but  they  had 
little  to  do  with  the  religious  and  moral  forces  which  gov¬ 
erned  the  actual  life  of  the  Hellenic  races.  The  general  cur¬ 
rent  of  religious  belief  and  emotion  on  which  Greece  was 
carried  forward  to  the  manifestation  of  a  supreme  activity 
in  arts  and  arms  is  what  chiefly  concerns  the  educational 
historian.  For  it  was  on  this  broad  current  alone  that  the 
life,  and  consequently  the  education,  of  the  people  was  borne 
along. 

So  with  the  Hindus.  The  doctrines  of  Brahmanical 
philosophical  sects  are  part  of  the  history  of  thought,  but  it 
is  only  the  governing  idea  of  Brahmanism  and  the  moral  sen¬ 
timents  and  convictions  flowing  from  this,  that  are  reflected 
in  the  life,  character,  and  education  of  the  race.  I  hope  that 
the  reader  will  hear  these  things  in  mind  and  not  expect 
from  me  more  than  I  profess  to  give. 

Further,  in  estimating  the  civilisation  of  a  people,  I  have 
had  to  confine  myself  to  that  point  of  time  at  which  they 
were  approaching  the  highest  expression  of  the  national 
idea. 

As  regards  Egypt,  Babylon,  and  Assyria,  I  have  formed 
my  own  judgment  on  the  materials  at  present  available. 
Every  reader  will  understand  that  the  history  of  these  coun¬ 
tries  is  now  in  the  process  of  reconstruction.  Professor 
Flinders  Petrie’s  History,  now  being  published,  when  fol¬ 
lowed  by  a  history  and  estimate  of  Egyptian  civilisation, 
will  doubtless  place  Egyptology  on  a  firmer  basis. 


S.  S.  LAURIE. 


NOTE. 


The  various  chapters  are  based  on  the  authorities  enumer¬ 
ated,  with  references  to  many  others  not  named  (including  En¬ 
cyclopaedias).  In  the  final  revision  before  printing,  I  kept 
before  me,  and  took  occasional  assistance  from,  Schmidt’s 
Geschichte  der  Pddagogik ,  1870,  and  Schmid’s  Geschichte  der 
Erziehung ,  &c.,  1885,  chiefly  in  the  chapters  on’  Greek  educa¬ 
tion. 

University  of  Edinburgh,  April,  1895. 


NOTE  TO  SECOND  EDITION 

In  this  second  edition  I  have  made  corrections  — these,  how¬ 
ever,  verbal  except  in  the  chapter  on  the  Jews. 

S.  S.  L. 


Edinburgh,  1900. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Introduction.  —  The  place  of  the  History  of  Education  in  Uni¬ 
versal  History . 1-8 

v 


THE  HAMITIC  RACES 

Egypt.  —  Political  Constitution.  Religion  and  Ethics.  Literature 
and  Art.  Social  Condition.  Women.  Education  in  Egypt. 
Instruction  of  the  People.  Method  and  Discipline  .  .  .  11-48 

THE  SEMITIC  RACES 

Arabs ,  Babylonians,  Assyrians,  Phoenicians,  Hebrews 

(1)  The  Arabs.  (2)  The  Babylonians.  Education.  The 
masses  of  the  people.  Education  of  the  upper  classes.  (3) 

The  Assyrians.  (4)  The  Hebrews  or  Jews.  Mosaism:  The 
Priesthood,  Prophets,  and  Scribes,  as  educational  forces.  Edu¬ 
cation  of  the  Young  among  the  Jews  generally.  Epochs  of 
Jewish  Education.  The  First  Period.  The  Second  Period. 

The  Third  Period  (Period  of  the  Scribe  and  the  Synagogue). 
Higher  Education.  Popular  Education.  Fourth  Period  (Period 
of  the  Rabbin  and  the  Elementary  School).  The  Talmud  and 
Education . 51-100 

THE  URO-ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES 

China.  —  Chapter  I.  National  Characteristics.  Language. 
General  Character  of  the  Chinese.  II.  Religion  and  Phil¬ 
osophy  of  Life.  Sacred  Books.  Philosophical  attitude  of 
the  Chinese  mind.  Religion.  III.  The  Dominant  Ideas  of 


X 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


PAGE 

Chinese  Life.  IV.  The  Educational  System.  1.  Its 
General  Character  and  Aim.  2.  The  External  Organisation  of 
the  Examination  System.  3.  The  Examinations.  4.  Rewards 
of  Success  in  the  Examinations.  5.  Subjects  of  Examination. 

6.  Schools,  Teachers,  Course  of  Study  and  Method :  (a)  Teach¬ 
ers  and  Schools.  ( b )  The  Course  of  Study,  (c)  Method  of 
Instruction.  Earlier  Stages.  ( d )  Higher  Stages,  (e)  Con¬ 
clusion  .  103-152 

THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES 
Hindus ,  Medo-Persians ,  Hellenes ,  Italians  ( Romans ) 

(A)  India  and  the  Hindus.  —  Religion  and  Ethics.  Educa¬ 
tion  among  the  Hindus.  Aim.  Organisation  and  Materials  of 
Education.  Women.  Teachers.  Method  and  Discipline  155-177 

(B)  The  Medo-Persians.  —  General  Characteristics.  Social 

and  Civil  Relations.  Persian  Character.  Religion  and  Ethics. 
Education  of  the  Ancient  Persians . 178-195 

(C)  The  Hellenic  Race.  —  Chapter  I.  General  Charac¬ 
teristics.  Religion.  Art.  Manhood.  II.  The  Greek 
Ideal  of  Manhood  and  the  Consequent  Character¬ 
istics  of  Hellenic  Education  generally.  III.  Edu¬ 
cation  among  the  Dorian  Greeks.  Cretan  Education. 
Spartan  Education.  1.  Infancy.  2.  Education  of  the  Boys. 

3.  Education  of  the  Young  Men.  4.  Education  of  the  Women. 

IV.  Athenian  and  Ionic- Attic  Education.  1.  Infancy. 

2.  Childhood  and  Boyhood.  3.  State  Supervision  and  Schools. 

4.  Education  of  the  School :  (a)  Primary  Instruction  and 
Methods.  Literary  Education.  Reading,  Arithmetic,  Writing, 
Drawing,  Geometry,  Geography.  ( b )  Secondary  Education. 

(c)  Music  in  the  narrower  sense  of  the  word,  (d)  Gymnastic. 

(e)  Moral  Education.  ( f )  Advanced  Education.  ( g )  School 
and  Home  Discipline.  (A)  Education  of  the  Women.  ( i )  Method. 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


xi 


The  Schoolmaster.  Schoolhouses.  Holidays.  (5)  Contrast  be¬ 
tween  Athenian  and  Spartan  Education.  V.  The  Higher 
Education  in  the  Fifth  Century  b.c.  and  thereafter. 
Note  on  Aristotle . l%-300 

(D)  The  Romans.  —  Chapter  I.  The  Roman  People  and 
their  General  Characteristics.  Religion.  Social  Life. 

Civil  Relations.  Personal  Character  of  the  Romans.  II.  His¬ 
torical  Development  of  Roman  Education.  First 
National  Period,  to  303  b.c.  Second  National  Period,  303  b.c. 
to  148  b.c.  Third  National  Period,  148  b.c.  onward.  III. 
Curriculum  of  Study.  Schools,  Methods,  and  Mas¬ 
ters.  Primary  Instruction.  Secondary  Instruction.  The 
Higher  Instruction.  Oratory.  Discipline,  Teachers,  School- 
houses.  IY.  Details  of  Instruction  and  Method  in 
the  Grammatical  and  Rhetorical  Schools  :  The  School 
of  the  Grammaticus.  The  School  of  the  Rhetorician.  Y.  The 
School  of  Quintilian.  Quintilian  and  his  Educational 
Aim.  First  Book  of  the  Institutions.  Primary  Instruction.  Sec¬ 
ondary  Instruction.  Second  Book.  The  Higher  Instruction, 
etc.  YI.  Education  in  Imperial  Times.  The  Classical 
Decadence.  Tacitus.  Petronius  Arbiter.  Educational  Activity 
under  the  Emperors.  Plutarch.  Musonius.  Rise  of  Chris¬ 
tianity.  Conclusion . 301-411 


* 


HISTORICAL  SURVEY 


OF 

PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 

INTKODUCTION 

THE  PLACE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  EDUCATION  IN  UNIVERSAL 

HISTORY 

The  history  of  education  is  involved  in  the  general  history 
of  the  world.  No  adequate  survey  of  it  is  possible  which 
does  not  presume  a  considerable  acquaintance  with  the  his¬ 
tory  of  the  leading  races  which  have  occupied  and  subdued 
the  earth  and  formed  themselves  into  civilised  societies. 

At  what  successive  periods  did  these  races  enter  on  a  pro¬ 
gressive  civilisation  ;  what  were  the  leading  intellectual  and 
moral  characteristics  of  each  ;  under  what  circumstances  of 
climate,  soil,  and  contention  with  other  nascent  or  dying 
nations  were  these  native  characteristics  developed  and 
moulded ;  and  what  was  the  issue  of  all  to  the  wealth,  the 
life,  the  thought,  the  art  of  humanity  ?  —  these  are  questions 
which  concern  us  intimately  as  students  of  the  history  of 
education.  For  the  history  of  the  education  of  a  people  is 
not  the  history  of  its  schools,  but  the  history  of  its  civilisa¬ 
tion  ;  and  its  civilisation  finds  its  record  mainly  in  its  intel¬ 
lectual,  moral,  and  aesthetic  products,  and  only  in  a  subordinate 
way  in  its  material  successes,  and  its  achievements  in  war. 

To  treat  of  the  education  of  the  human  race  in  this  its 
broadest  conception  would  be  to  attempt  a  philosophy  of 

1 


2 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


history.  We  have  accordingly  to  narrow  our  view,  and  this 
we  can  do  only  by  first  narrowing  the  scope  of  the  word 
education.  The  education  of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  for 
example,  is  not  precisely  synonymous  with  the  history  of 
the  civilisation  of  that  race  as  a  factor  in  the  universal  his¬ 
tory  of  man.  At  the  same  time,  it  certainly  embraces  an 
estimate  of  the  civilising  forces  at  work  among  that  remark¬ 
able  people,  and  involves  our  forming  a  pretty  clear  concep¬ 
tion  of  their  social  organisation  and  of  the  ideal  of  life  and 
character  to  which  they  unconsciously  attained,  or  after 
which  they  consciously  strove.  For  by  education,  even  in 
the  narrow  sense  in  which  the  word  must  be  employed  here, 
I  understand  the  means  which  a  nation,  with  more  or  less 
consciousness,  takes  for  bringing  up  its  citizens  to  maintain 
the  tradition  of  national  character,  and  for  promoting  the 
welfare  of  the  whole  as  an  organised  ethical  community.  It 
is  essential,  therefore,  that  we  should  understand  the  objects 
which  the  nation,  as  such,  desired  to  secure  ;  in  brief,  its 
own  more  or  less  conscious  ideal  of  national  and  civic  life, 
of  personal  character,  and  of  ideal  political  justice.  If  we 
can  ascertain  this  by  the  study  of  its  highest  products  in 
men,  deeds,  thought  and  arts,  we  have  made  a  great  step 
towards  interpreting  the  course  of  training  to  which  it  would 
naturally  endeavour  to  subject  its  youth  by  means  of  its 
laws  and  institutions. 

In  a  historical  survey  we  can  afford  to  ignore  the  vast 
variety  of  tribes  which  are  still  in  a  savage  state,  and  which, 
either  by  innate  incapacity  for  development,  or  by  the  force 
of  irresistible  external  circumstances,  have  risen  little  above 
the  beasts  that  perish.  The  human  possibilities  of  such 
tribes  may  be,  in  germ,  as  high  as  those  of  many  more  fav¬ 
oured  races ;  but  this  is  doubtful.  They  labour  to  acquire 
skill  in  getting  food  by  the  exercise  either  of  bodily  vigour 
or  successful  cunning,  and  they  cherish  the  virtue  of  bravery 
in  warding  off  the  attacks  of  others  like  themselves.  As 
they  have,  however,  no  political  or  ethical  ideal,  they  can 


INTRODUCTION 


3 


have  no  education  in  the  sense  in  which  we  use  the  term  in 
this  book.  They  can  teach  us  nothing.  For,  training  to 
expertness  in  the  use  of  the  weapons  of  the  chase  or  of 
war  is  not  education,  except  in  a  narrow  technical  sense. 
It  is  only  when  the  ideas  of  bodily  vigour,  of  bravery,  of 
strength,  bodily  beauty,  or  personal  morality,  become  desired 
for  themselves,  or  as  the  necessary  conditions  of  political 
life  and  national  conservation,  that  education  begins.  The 
training  which  the  national  idea  gives  has  then  an  ideal  aim 
more  or  less  conscious.  An  education  which  contemplates 
an  ideal  of  life  for  each  man,  as  distinct  from  the  state 
organism  as  a  whole,  is,  necessarily,  of  later  growth. 

It  is  only,  then,  with  those  nations  which,  by  virtue  of 
their  ordered  civilisation,  had  an  idea  of  individual  or  of 
national  life,  and  which,  by  virtue  of  their  having  this  idea, 
possessed  a  civilisation,  that  we  have  to  do.  The  races 
which  chiefly  interest  us  are  the  Indo-European  or  Aryan, 
to  which  we  ourselves  belong,  and  it  might  be  sufficient  to 
trace  the  history  of  education  among  the  peoples  who  bear 
the  Aryan  character  as  that  has  developed  itself  west  of  the 
Caucasus.  But  we  should  feel  the  survey  of  educational 
history  to  be  imperfect  if  we  did  so.  It  is  desirable,  there¬ 
fore,  to  comprehend  other  races,  such  as  the  Hamitic,  the 
Semitic,  and  Uro-Altaic ;  and  not  wholly  to  omit  the  Aryan 
element  south-east  of  the  Caucasus.  We  are,  of  course,  com¬ 
pelled  to  confine  ourselves,  in  dealing  with  the  education  of 
almost  all  these  races,  to  the  highest  and  most  generalised 
expression  of  their  national  life ;  and  this,  frequently,  for 
want  of  materials  to  do  anything  else. 

As  the  ide^l  of  life  grows  in  a  nation,  its  idea  of  educa¬ 
tion  grows  and  it  begins  to  ask  more  and  more  in  a  self- 
conscious  way,  How  can  we  attain  this  ideal  in  the  persons 
of  our  children  ?  Thus  arise  systems  of  education  in  civ¬ 
ilised  countries.  Such  systems  or  customs  as  may  have 
existed  prior  to  the  asking  of  this  question  are  not  con¬ 
sciously  constructed  with  a  view  to  a  specific  result.  Nations 
feel  their  way,  by  slow  degrees,  to  the  highest  expression  of 


4 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


their  corporate  life  and  to  the  best  machinery  for  sustaining 
and  promoting  it,  taught  by  the  results  of  experience  and 
their  ever-growing  thought  on  the  nature  and  destiny  of  man 
and  the  conditions  of  national  permanence.  Thus  it  is  that 
the  education  of  a  nation  has  always  been  determined  mainly 
by  its  moral  and  spiritual  leaders.  These,  as  the  historians 
of  its  experience  and  the  conservators  of  its  thought,  right- 
fully  govern.  They  have  in  all  ages,  till  recent  times,  been 
more  or  less  identified  with  a  church  or  priesthood  in  one 
form  or  other ;  and  if  there  he  no  distinctive  organised 
priesthood  as  among  the  Chinese,  Greeks,  and  Romans,  then 
by  that  which  takes  its  place  —  a  political  aristocracy  which 
always  embodies  in  its  scheme  of  civil  life,  moral  and 
religious,  if  not  also  theological,  conceptions.  In  such  cases 
the  State  is  the  church. 


The  educational  aim,  we  shall  find,  is  always  practical  in 
the  large  sense  of  that  word ;  for,  even  in  its  highest  aspects, 
it  has  always  to  do  with  life  in  some  form  or  other,  and 
indeed  presumes  a  certain  philosophy  of  life.  Even  philos¬ 
ophy,  religion  and  poetry  have  a  practical  aim  —  the  nobler 
life  of  a  man  as  an  individual  and  as  a  citizen ;  and,  when 
they  forget  this  aim,  they  degenerate  into  verbal  frivolities 
or  empty  forms.  This  higher  form  of  the  practical  aim  is 
‘  liberal  *  education. 

But  not  only  in  this  larger  sense  is  the  educational  aim 
always  practical,  hut  till  the  time  of  the  Athenians  it  was 
always  practical  in  the  narrower  sense  of  the  word.  Indeed, 
in  every  form  of  national  education,  the  ‘practical’  in  the 
restricted  sense  of  the  term,  in  other  words,  the  professional 
and  technical,  always  occupied  (and  must  always  occupy) 
the  greater  part  of  the  field,  thwarting  or  promoting  the 
laigei  general  aim.  It  is  this  narrower  aim,  which  statesmen 
and  politicians  generally  contemplate  in  their  public  acts ; 
for  all  civilised  societies  demand  services  of  a  specific  kind, 
which  can  fitly  be  discharged  only  by  those  who  are  trained 
to  discharge  them.  The  division  of  occupations,  all  of  which 


INTRODUCTION 


5 


are  in  their  degree  serviceable  to  the  community,  makes 
specific  training  necessary,  if  service  is  to  be  efficiently  ren¬ 
dered.  Thus  we  have  classes  of  the  population  trained  and 
devoted  to  the  various  industrial  arts  ;  to  the  fine  arts ;  to  the 
service  of  man’s  body  —  the  medical  art;  to  the  service  of 
mutual  rights  —  the  legal  art ;  to  the  service  of  man’s  spirit  — 
the  priestly  art,  of  which  last  the  teaching  art,  in  the  highest 
conception  of  it,  is  a  branch ;  to  the  military  art;  and  so  forth. 

The  education  of  a  man  as  a  member  of  a  nation  and  for 
manhood  simply,  is  what  we  mean  by  ‘  liberal  ’  education, 
and  this,  I  have  said,  is  to  be  identified  with  the  ‘  practical  ’ 
in  its  highest  sense,  which  may  be  summed  up  in  the  word 
‘  ethical  ’ :  the  training  for  specific  services,  again,  is  technical, 
whether  we  dignify  some  of  these  services  by  calling  them 
professions  or  not.  The  stress  of  competition  among  indi¬ 
viduals  and  nations  compels  us,  unhappily,  more  and  more 
to  give  a  specific  character  to  our  training,  and  to  ignore  the 
larger  national  and  human  aims.  It  is  clear,  however,  that 
in  so  far  as  we  lose  sight  of  the  latter  in  the  interest  of  the 
former  we  err :  because  it  is  the  broad  human  and  national 
element  in  education  that  gives  character  and  power  and 
makes  itself  felt  in  every  department  of  work.  If  we  fail  in 
giving  this,  all  specific  activities  of  mind  will  be  weakened 
by  the  weakening  of  their  foundation  in  the  man  as  a  man. 
In  the  systematisation  of  education  accordingly,  the  real 
problem  amounts  in  these  days  to  this :  How  shall  we  rear 
specific  aptitudes  on  the  basis  of  a  common  instruction  and 
discipline  which  shall  contemplate  the  man  and  the  citizen, 
and  only  in  the  second  place  the  worker  ?  ‘  This  (ideal  per¬ 

fection  of  citizenship)  is,’  says  Plato, 1  ‘  the  only  education 
which  in  our  view  deserves  the  name ;  that  other  sort  of 
training  which  aims  at  the  acquisition  of  wealth  or  bodily 
strength  or  mere  cleverness,  apart  from  intelligence  and  jus¬ 
tice,  is  mean  and  illiberal  and  not  worthy  to  be  called  educa¬ 
tion  at  all/ 


1  Laws ,  i.  465,  as  rendered  by  Jowett. 


6 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


The  modern  educational  problem  may,  perhaps,  be  put 
thus:  —  How  shall  we  conserve  the  national  type,  tradition, 
and  ideal,  and,  while  training  for  specific  arts,  educate  all  to 
such  manhood  as  their  racial  possibilities  and  historical 
tradition  admit  of  ? 

In  the  historical  evolution  of  the  educational  idea  we  may 
note  at  least  three  stages.  First  of  all,  we  have  the  unpre¬ 
meditated  education  of  national  character  and  institutions, 
and  of  instinctive  ideals  of  personal  and  community  life  in 
contact  with  definite  external  conditions,  and  moulding  or 
being  moulded  by  these.  Secondly,  we  find  that  the  educa¬ 
tion  of  the  citizen  becomes  a  matter  of  public  concern,  and 
means,  often  inadequate,  are  taken  by  individuals  or  societies 
within  the  State  for  handing  down  the  national  tradition  by 
the  agency  of  the  family  and  the  school,  and  by  public 
institutions  and  ceremonials ;  but  there  is  no  systematised 
purpose.  Thirdly:  Education  passes  out  of  the  hands  of 
irregular  agencies,  and,  from  being  a  merely  public  and  vol¬ 
untary,  becomes  a  political  or  State  interest.  We  then  have 
a  more  or  less  conscious  ideal  of  national  life,  determin¬ 
ing  the  organisation  of  educational  agencies  and  reducing 
these  to  an  elaborate  system  designed  to  meet  the  wants 
of  the  citizen  at  every  age  from  infancy  to  manhood. 

Education,  in  the  third  stage  of  development,  is  to  a  large 
extent  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  the  family.  But  at  all 
stages  of  educational  history  (and  notwithstanding  the  action 
of  the  State)  the  family  is  the  chief  agency  in  the  education 
of  the  young,  and  as  such,  it  ought  never  to  be  superseded. 
The  State  is  made  up  of  families  rather  than  of  individuals : 
the  family  is  the  true  moral  unit.  We  are  what  our  fathers 
have  made  us,  and  future  generations  are  what  we  are  even 
now  making  our  children.  There  is  a  continuity  in  the  life 
of  a  nation,  and  the  individual,  here  and  now,  is  a  mere  tran¬ 
sition  point  from  the  past  to  the  future.  It  is  in  truth  the 
family  tradition,  along  with  civil  and  religious  institutions, 
which  chiefly  educates.  Whatever  tradition  there  may  be  of 


INTRODUCTION 


7 


opinion  and  conduct,  whatever  may  be  the  laws  and  institu¬ 
tions  by  which  the  State  protects  itself  as  an  organised  body, 
it  must  rely  on  the  family  to  hand  down  and  perpetuate 
these  and  to  give  them  the  support  of  the  affections  and  sen¬ 
timents  of  our  nature.  And  where,  owing  to  the  social 
necessities  of  a  complex  civilisation,  it  is  found  necessary  to 
set  apart  a  class  to  help  in  the  work  which  it  is  the  primary 
duty  of  parents  to  discharge,  that  class  should  regard  itself 
as,  in  every  sense,  in  loco  parentis  :  that  is  to  say,  the  aims, 
instruments,  and  methods  of  the  school  should  always  be 
those  of  a  humane  and  enlightened  parent.  The  moral  and 
religious  influence  of  the  school  ought  to  be,  for  example,  as 
far  as  possible,  a  mere  continuation  and  extension  of  the 
family  conception  of  education,  and  not  an  alien  substitute 
for  it.  If  this  be  understood  and  accepted,  the  deductions 
from  it  will  be  found  to  be  numerous  and  significant. 

As  we  survey  the  annals  of  education  we  see  that  it  is  the 
national  tradition  through  the  family  that  constitutes  the 
earliest  form.  The  Romans  had  thus  moulded  themselves 
and  their  State  and  were  already  marked  for  empire,  before 
they  had  any  schools.  So  the  Persians  were  a  brilliant  and 
imperial  nation,  though  destitute  of  schools  in  any  modern 
sense  of  the  word.  Hellenic  education,  again,  for  probably 
two  centuries  before  Socrates,  was  an  illustration  of  the 
second  period  of  national  education  in  which  State  tradition 
and  institutions  combined  with  schools  (existing  but  as  yet 
undeveloped)  to  form  the  Greek  mind  and  body.  In  post- 
Socratic  times  the  Greek  became  self-conscious  in  his  educa¬ 
tional  aims  —  he  had  a  type  of  man  whom  he  aimed  at  pro¬ 
ducing.  The  Romans  towards  the  end  of  the  Republic 
followed,  with  some  differences,  the  leading  of  Greece  ;  but 
it  cannot  be  said  that  education  was  ever  systematised  by 
either  people. 

The  only  nations  in  pre-Christian  times,  who  had  attained 
to  the  third  stage  of  national  education  before  the  Christian 
era,  were  the  Chinese  and  the  Doric  Greeks  as  represented 
by  the  Spartans.  The  former  had,  and  have,  a  definite  ideal 


8 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


of  human  excellence,  such  as  it  is  ;  but  always  with  a  view 
to  the  service  of  a  bureaucratic  State.  So  with  the  Spartans, 
where  the  whole  organisation  (but  the  Spartans  were,  after 
all,  a  mere  tribe)  was  educational,  and  where  every  freeborn 
citizen  was  deliberately  formed  to  a  certain  ideal  —  also  (as 
in  China)  in  the  interests  of  civic  continuity. 

The  Hellenic  races,  however,  much  as  we  owe  them,  had 
no  conception  of  education  as  a  human  need  and  a  human 
right;  they  thought  only  of  the  free, pure  Greeks  who  formed 
an  aristocracy  among  a  body  of  servile  inferiors.  This  char¬ 
acteristic  of  the  Greeks  was  specially  emphasised  in  Sparta. 
The  Romans,  also,  thought  chiefly  of  the  upper  half  of  soci¬ 
ety.  In  Egypt,  Judsea,  Persia,  and  China.,  on  the  other  hand, 
nothing  stood,  theoretically  at  least ,  between  the  lowest  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  communitv  and  the  best  the  State  could  offer  in 
the  way  of  education,  except  poverty.  It  was  the  Stoics  in 
the  earlier  imperial  times  who  first  rose  to  the  conception  of 
humanity  and  of  human,  as  distinct  from  local  and  national 
rights  ;  and  Christianity  about  the  same  time  proclaimed 
these.  The  Stoic  and  Christian  were  the  first  humanitarians, 
and  consequently  the  first  to  believe  in  the  inherent  right  of 
each  citizen  to  claim  education  for  himself. 

In  taking  a  survey  of  educational  history  we  have  to  bear 
in  mind  the  distinctions  I  have  made  in  these  introductory 
remarks  (and  which  might  with  advantage  be  even  further 
elaborated)  and  carry  them  always  with  us.  If  we  do  not, 
we  shall  certainly  fail  to  interpret  facts  aright  and  to  learn 
the  lessons  which  the  past  has  to  teach. 


THE  HAMITIC  RACES 


THE  H AMI  TIG  RACES 


Under  the  designation  Hamites  are  generally  included 
Egyptians,  Ethiopians  to  the  south  of  Egypt,  Libyans  to 
the  west  and  north-west,  the  inhabitants  of  south-eastern 
Arabia,  and  the  Hittites  (extending  from  the  Taurus  range 
to  Canaan).  In  the  Egyptians  this  race  of  mankind  found 
the  highest  expression  of  its  capacity  for  civilised  life,  as  did 
the  Hebrews  among  the  Semites,  the  Chinese  among  the 
Uro-Altaic  (Turanian)  and  the  Greeks  among  the  Aryans. 
And  quite  apart  from  their  superiority  to  other  nations  of 
their  own  blood,  we  find  the  Egyptians  to  he  by  far  the 
most  interesting  of  ancient  peoples,  in  respect,  at  least,  of 
the  antiquity  and  detailed  organisation  of  their  complex 
civilisation. 


EGYPT 

It  is  now  generally  believed  that  the  original  immigrants 
who  formed  the  Egyptian  nation  did  not  come  from 
Ethiopia  or  Libya,  but  from  the  interior  of  Asia.1 

Egypt  proper  is  a  country  made,  and  it  may  he  almost 
said  annually  re-made,  by  a  single  river  —  the  Nile,  which, 
rising  in  the  equatorial  regions,  falls  into  the  Mediterranean. 
The  water  and  mud  deposited  by  the  river  in  its  annual 

1  Professor  Petrie,  in  vol.  i.  of  his  History,  says  that  the  Egyptians  came 
from  the  land  of  Pun  or  Punt,  which  seems  to  have  been  on  both  sides  of  the 
southern  part  of  the  Red  Sea,  having  reached  this  region  from  the  vicinity  of 
the  Persian  Gulf,  moving  south  and  west.  He  connects  them  with  the 
Phoenicians,  who  would  then  have  to  be  classed  under  the  Hamitic,  and  not 
the  Semitic,  race.  The  history  of  Egypt  is  usually  given  under  thirty  dynas¬ 
ties,  beginning,  according  to  Mariette,  with  Mena,  4400  b.c.,  and  ending  with 
Alexander  the  Great,  b.c.  332.  These  do  not  include  that  of  the  foreign  (and 
doubtless  Semitic)  Hyksos,  which  lasted  about  500  years  prior  to  2226  b.c. 


12 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


inundations  have  made  Egypt  probably  the  most  fertile 
tract  of  country  in  the  world.  When  we  consider  that  it 
is  enclosed  on  all  sides  by  desert  or  mountains  or  seas,  and 
thus  shut  off  from  contact  with  other  countries,  we  can 
understand  that  it  should  early  become  the  home  of  a 
settled  people  who  would  develop  their  life  and  civilisation 
from  within.  It  is  this  exclusion  from  external  influences 
that  gives  to  Egypt,  a  unique  position  in  the  history  of  civili¬ 
sation.1  The  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  we  may  add  the  easy 
conditions  of  life  caused  by  an  almost  uniform  climate,  en¬ 
abled  the  Nile  basin  to  support  a  large  population.  The 
tradition  is  that  there  were  20,000  cities,  but  doubtless 
among  cities  were  included  what  we  should  call  villages. 

The  conquering  race  which  occupied  Egypt  (already 
inhabited  by  a  primitive  barbarian  population)  had  three 
leading  characteristics  —  a  natural  capacity  for  equity  and 
government,  a  shrewd  practical  intelligence,  and  a  deep 
religious  sense  in  which  the  feeling  of  awe  predominated. 
Their  religious  sentiment  revolved  round  two  points,  (1)  A 
feeling  of  wonder  as  they  contemplated  the  forces  of  nature 
and  the  regular  and  beneficent  recurrence  of  natural  events. 
This  was  forced  on  the  Egyptians,  above  all  other  races,  by 
the  peculiarities  of  their  physical  conditions.  (2)  The  fact 
and  mystery  of  death  which  always  lay  close  to  the  Egyptian 
mind.  The  Pyramids  alone,  were  there  no  other  records, 
would  testify  to  all  time  the  profound  sense  of  the  serious¬ 
ness  of  life  and  the  majesty  of  death  which  characterised  the 
ancient  Egyptians. 

Political  constitution.  — At  a  very  early  period  we  find 
the  country  divided  into  forty -two  nomes  or  districts,  each 
with  its  own  captain  or  governor.  It  would  seem  that  the 
chieftainship  was  originally  hereditary,  and  that  Egypt  was 
a  feudal  monarchy ;  but  as  the  monarchy  gained  strength 
these  heads  of  nomes  were  either  appointed  by  the  sovereign 

1  The  same  remark  applies  to  China.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  Egypt 
and  China  had  no  external  relations,  but  merely  that  they  were  as  nothing 
compared  with  those  of  other  races. 


THE  HAMITIC  RACES 


13 


or  had  to  be  confirmed  in  tlieir  authority  by  him.  Egypt 
was  a  monarchy  from  very  early  times  (probably  5000  years 
B.c.),  but  the  relation  of  the  monarch  to  the  nomes  and  their 
chiefs  fluctuated,  and  the  heads  of  principalities  frequently 
quarrelled  with  each  other  and  with  the  central  government. 
The  monarchy,  when  finally  supreme,  was  despotic  in  its 
character,  and  supported  by  a  strong  and  wealthy  priesthood. 
Ranke  points  out  that  a  despotic  monarchy  was  a  necessity 
of  the  situation,  not  only  because  of  the  need  of  a  central 
authority  for  civil  and  military  purposes,  but  also  because  of 
the  annual  inundations  which  had  to  be  regulated  through¬ 
out  the  length  and  breadth  of  Egypt  and  made  local  auton¬ 
omy  impossible.  One  river  made  Egypt,  and  there  was 
consequent  need  for  a  central  administration  to  watch  and 
regulate  the  waters  and  settle  questions  of  ever-shifting 
boundaries  as  the  waters  retired.  The  monarch  was  centre 
of  all  government,  and,  as  symbol  of  the  unity  of  the  life  of 
the  nation  in  a  material  as  well  as  moral  sense,  he  was 
likened  to  god,  and  called  the  son  of  god ;  and  not  only 
called  the  son,  but  believed  to  be  the  son  of  the  god  (Ra), 
and  treated  as  such  during  his  lifetime.  He  was,  in  a  real 
and  practical  sense,  regarded  as  god  on  earth  and  intermediary 
with  the  gods  in  heaven. 

The  administrators  of  justice,  after  a  certain  date,  may 
have  been  men  of  legal  training ;  but  speaking  of  Egypt 
generally,  we  find  that  the  decision  of  civil  suits  and  the 
trial  of  criminal  cases  was  a  part  of  the  general  executive 
functions  of  the  chiefs  of  nomes  and  the  governors  of  towns 
or  villages.  ‘  For  a  certain  number  of  days  in  the  month 
they  sat  at  the  gate  of  the  town  or  of  the  building  which 
served  as  their  residence,  and  all  those  possessed  of  any  title, 
position,  or  property,  the  superior  priesthood  of  the  temples, 
scribes  who  had  advanced  or  grown  old  in  office,  those  in 
command  of  the  militia  or  police,  the  heads  of  divisions 
or  corporations,  might,  if  they  thought  fit,  take  their  position 
beside  them  and  help  to  decide  ordinary  lawsuits.’ 1  The 

1  Maspero’s  Dawn  of  Civilisation  in  the  East,  p.  336, 


14 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


poor  man,  we  may  presume,  had  little  chance  of  obtaining 
a  just  decision  before  a  tribunal  so  constituted,  if  his  claim 
conflicted  with  that  of  bis  social  superiors.  The  monarch 
was  fountain  of  law  and  justice.  The  system,  on  the  whole, 
of  law  or  usage  seems  to  have  been  mild,  and  to  have  been 
administered  with  equity  and  clemency. 

The  government  really  governed,  and  the  consequence  of 
this  was  infinite  bureaucratic  detail  and  an  army  of  officials 
of  all  kinds. 

Religion  and  Ethics.  —  It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to 
give  an  account  which  shall  he  at  once  brief  and  intelligible, 
and  at  the  same  time  fairly  accurate,  of  the  religion  of  Egypt, 
the  land  of  the  ‘  thousand  gods.’  Our  desire  to  attain  to  a 
unity  of  view  and  to  discover  some  central-principle  is  al¬ 
most  baffled,  and  we  can,  at  best,  only  partially  succeed. 

There  can  he  little  doubt  that  the  earliest  gods  worshipped 
by  the  Egyptians  were,  as  was  natural,  the  Sun  (Ea)  and  the 
Nile.  But  some  confusion  arises  from  the  fact  that  the  same 
gods  were  worshipped  under  different  names  in  the  various 
cities. 

It  would  appear,  however,  that  a  very  simple  idea  lay  at 
the  root  of  the  Egyptian  religion.  The  elements  were  not 
merely  objects  of  sense,  they  were  living  gods ;  they  had 
their  doubles.  ‘  The  sky,’  says  M.  Maspero,1  ‘  the  earth,  the 
stars,  the  sun,  the  Nile,  were  so  many  breathing  and  think¬ 
ing  beings  whose  lives  were  daily  manifest  in  the  life  of  the 
universe.  They  were  worshipped  from  one  end  of  the  valley 
to  the  other,  and  the  whole  nation  agreed  in  proclaiming 
their  sovereign  power.  But  when  they  began  to  name  them, 
to  define  their  powers  and  attributes,  to  particularise  their 
forms  or  the  relationship  which  subsisted  among  them,  this 
unanimity  was  at  an  end.  Each  principality,  each  nome, 
each  city,  almost  every  village,  conceived  and  represented 
these  differently.’ 

Animals  and  statues  were  not  merely  symbolic  of  the 
gods ;  but  the  gods  dwelt  in  them.  Other  objects  of  nature 

1  Maspero’s  Dawn  of  Civilisation  in  the  East ,  p.  85. 


THE  HAMITIC  RACES 


15 


which  evoked  surprise  were  worshipped,  e.  g.  sycamore  trees 
growing  where  no  tree  should  be.  It  is  evident  that  on 
these  lines  of  religious  thought,  there  would  be  no  end  to 
the  number  of  gods.  ‘  Each  family  and  almost  every  indi¬ 
vidual  possessed  gods  and  fetishes  which  had  been  pointed 
out  for  their  worship  by  some  fortuitous  meeting  with  an 
animal  or  an  object,  or  indicated  by  a  dream  or  a  sudden 
intuition’  (p.  122). 

The  worship  was  a  worship  by  sacrifice  and  offerings  and 
invocations,  wholly  with  the  purpose  of  securing  the  help  of 
the  god  or  gods  in  the  affairs  of  life.  I  cannot  find  that  it 
had  any  ethical  or  spiritual  significance,  save  thus  far,  that 
it  was  an  expression  of  reverential  awe  and  not  of  craven 
fear.  The  ordinary  Hebrew  also  looked  for  material  bless¬ 
ings,  but  there  was  much  more  than  this  in  his  case :  his 
worship  was  essentially  the  fulfilling  of  a  contract  or  cove¬ 
nant  —  on  his  side  the  fulfilment  of  the  moral  law,  and  on 
the  other  side,  the  favour  of  God  as  God.  The  detail  of  sac¬ 
rifice  in  the  Egyptian  temples  was  most  minute,  affecting  the 
purification  and  dress  of  the  priest,  and  the  qualifications  and 
slaughter  of  the  animals.  It  was  necessary  also  that  the 
priest  should  repeat  the  traditionary  formulas  and  prayers 
with  absolute  exactness  and  with  the  authorised  intonations 
and  rhythm  ;  otherwise  they  lost  altogether  their  efficacy. 

The  chief  of  the  nome  or  principality  acted  as  priest  in  the 
earlier  centuries  :  the  high  priest  of  all  was  the  Pharaoh.  It 
being  vain,  however,  to  expect  ritualistic  perfection  in  men 
occupied  with  other  affairs,  the  custom  grew  up  of  associating 
officials  as  priests  with  the  civil  authorities.  Thus  each  tem¬ 
ple  had  its  staff  of  priests  and  a  high  priest  set  over  them, 
and  gradually  there  grew  up  a  graded  hierarchy.  These 
temples  received  numerous  gifts  and  legacies  from  worship¬ 
pers  seeking  favour  in  this  life  from  the  gods,  or  wishing  to 
buy  the  prayers  of  the  priests  when  they,  the  worshippers, 
were  dead.  The  temples  thus  became  wealthy  corporations. 

The  sacerdotal  temple  or  college  had  each  not  only  its  own 
hierarchy,  but  its  own  theology.  The  god  of  each  nome 


16 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


temple  was  addressed  as  the  chief  god  among  all  the  gods 
and  as  the  maker  of  the  world.  To  Heliopolis,  where  there 
was  a  strong  priestly  college,  is  due  the  attempt  to  arrange 
the  chief  gods  in  a  hierarchy  with  one  supreme  over  all  the 
rest.  The  other  temples  of  Egypt  accepted  this  substan¬ 
tially  ;  hut  they  naturally  reserved  the  supreme  position  for 
their  own  local  god.  The  idea,  however,  was  the  same  —  a 
supreme  god  working  through  subordinate  agencies  in  the 
creation  of  the  world.  It  may  be,  as  M.  Maspero  says,  that 
Egypt,  as  a  whole,  never  accepted  the  idea  of  a  one  sole  god  ; 1 
but  in  the  elevation  of  the  various  nomic  gods  to  supremacy, 
the  idea  of  a  one  supreme  god  was  unquestionably  operative. 

The  belief  in  immortality  was  universal ;  but  the  life  be¬ 
yond  the  grave  suggests  to  us,  in  the  earlier  stages  of  doctrine, 
nothing  better  than  the  Accadian  underworld  or  the  Homeric 
Hades.  The  soul  kept  the  distinctive  character  and  appear¬ 
ance  which  pertained  to  it c  upon  the  earth  * ;  as  it  had  been 
a  ‘  double  ’  before  death,  so  it  remained  a  double  after  it, 
able  to  perform  all  functions  of  man-life  after  its  own 
fashion.  It  moved,  went,  came,  spoke,  breathed,  accepted 
pious  homage,  but  without  pleasure,  and  as  it  were  mechani¬ 
cally  ;  rather  from  an  instinctive  horror  of  annihilation  than 
from  any  rational  desire  for  immortality.  Unceasing  regret 
for  the  bright  world  which  it  had  left  disturbed  its  mournful 
and  inert  existence.  ‘  0  my  brother/  are  the  words  of  a  hymn, 
‘  withhold  not  thyself  from  drinking  and  from  eating,  from 
drunkenness,  from  love,  from  all  enjoyment,  from  following 
thy  desire  by  night  and  by  day ;  put  not  sorrow  within  thy 
heart,  for  what  are  the  years  of  a  man  upon  earth  ?  The 
West  is  a  land  of  sleep  and  of  heavy  shadow,  a  place  wherein 
its  inhabitants  when  once  installed  slumber  on  in  their 
mummy  forms,  never  more  waking  to  see  their  brethren ; 
never  more  to  recognise  their  fathers  or  their  mothers ;  with 
hearts  forgetful  of  their  wives  and  children.  The  living 
water  which  earth  giveth  to  all  who  dwell  upon  it  is  for  me 

1  It  does  not  follow  from  this  that  the  more  cultured  few  did  not  recognise 
a  One  Supreme  Being. 


THE  HAMITIC  RACES 


17 


but  stagnant  and  dead ;  that  water  floweth  to  all  who  are  on 
earth,  while  for  me  it  is  but  liquid  putrefaction,  this  water 
that  is  mine.  Since  I  came  into  this  funereal  valley  I  know 
not  where  nor  what  I  am.  Give  me  to  drink  of  running 
water  !  Let  me  be  placed  by  the  edge  of  the  water  with  my 
face  to  the  North,  that  the  breeze  may  caress  me  and  my 
heart  be  refreshed  from  its  sorrow.’ 1  This  is  a  very  ancient 
hymn.  The  conception  of  the  life  beyond  the  grave,  how¬ 
ever,  subsequently  took  a  more  elevated  form,  and  to  secure 
eternal  felicity  good  works  had  to  be  done  on  earth. 

The  Book  of  the  Dead  (more  correctly  translated,  ‘  The 
Book  of  the  goings  forth  to  Day  ’),  the  sacred  Scripture  of 
the  Egyptians,  is  in  truth  a  guide  book  for  departed  spirits  in 
the  underworld  where  they  find  their  way  through  many 
difficulties,  by  the  help  of  texts,  prayers,  and  incantations,  to 
the  presence  of  Osiris,  god  of  the  dead  and  of  the  underworld, 
and  his  jury,2  the  forty-two  judges  who  are  ‘  Lords  of  Truth.’ 
The  confession  which  the  soul  is  represented  as  making  be¬ 
fore  the  god  and  jury  is  the  most  interesting  of  Egyptian 
theological  remains,  indicating  a  marked  advance  on  earlier 
ideas.  The  soul  which  is  acquitted  of  evil  escapes  the  mis¬ 
ery  of  the  underworld  as  described  above,  and  it  does  so 
on  moral  grounds.  Having  found  its  way  to  the  halls  of 
Osiris  in  Hades  it  makes  an  appeal  to  Osiris  and  the  jury 
of  gods.3  This  appeal  is  of  the  nature  of  a  confession  which, 
however,  is  chiefly  negative.  The  appellant  spirit  says 
that  he  has  not  been  guilty  of  the  oppression  of  the  poor 
and  the  slave,  of  assassination,  treason,  cheating  by  false 
balances,  refusing  temple  offerings,  disregard  for  temple 
property,  lying,  stealing,  fornication,  adultery,  blasphemy, 
false  witness,  and  generally  that  he  has  not  committed  any 
crime.  The  positive  part  of  the  confession  says  that  he  has 
spread  joy  on  all  sides,  given  bread  to  the  hungry,  water 
to  the  thirsty,  clothing  to  the  naked.  We  have  here  the 

1  The  Dawn  of  Civilisation,  p.  113. 

2  The  translations  I  have  read  are  that  of  Birch  in  Bunsen,  and  that  in 
Dr.  Davis’  recent  Book  of  the  Dead.  This  is  sufficient  for  my  purpose. 

3  Chap.  125  in  Davis’  edition. 


18 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


ethical  creed  of  the  ancient  Egyptian,  a  good  working  com¬ 
monplace  creed,  but  nothing  more.  If  we  add  the  proverbs 
and  prudential  precepts  of  Ptah-lietep  (3600  B.c.,  the  oldest 
book  in  the  world),  we  probably  exhaust  the  thought  of 
the  Egyptian  on  moral  and  social  relations.  His  relation 
to  the  gods  was,  and  could  be,  nothing  but  abstract  adora¬ 
tion  or  service  in  the  interests  of  his  own  material  felicity. 
It  has  further  to  be  noted  that  the  bliss  which  a  favourable 
sentence  secured  to  the  soul  was,  in  the  earlier  stages  of 
religious  development,  simply  the  enjoyment  of  life  in  its 
old  haunts,  somewhat  heightened  and  permanently  secured. 
A  further  advance  was  manifest  when  the  highest  bliss  was 
held  to  be  sharing  the  life  of  the  sun-god,  but  with  power 
to  leave  the  bark  of  the  sun  when  the  soul  chose,  and  enjoy 
earthly  life  once  more.  We  may,  if  we  choose,  call  this  a 
‘  blessed  immortality.’  It  certainly  was  as  high  a  conception 
of  the  future  as  any  pre-christian  nation  attained  to. 

The  question  is,  was  there  behind  all  this  polytheistic  con¬ 
fusion  any  esoteric  religious  doctrine  reserved  for  the  inner 
circle  of  the  priesthood  ?  If  there  had  been,  should  we  not 
have  had  some  record  of  it  ?  One  comes  across  suggestions 
of  a  mystic  esotericism,  but  in  the  books  I  have  read  I  find 
no  evidence  of  it.  This  much,  however,  seems  fully  worthy 
of  acceptance,  that  the  myth  of  Osiris,  which  embodied  the 
idea  of  the  triumph  of  Light  over  Darkness,  was  interpreted 
by  the  more  thoughtful  in  an  ethical  sense.  Further,  that 
the  more  thoughtful  believed  in  a  One  God  the  Source  of 
All,  Himself  the  ‘  Hidden  One,’  ‘  Self-begetting  ’ ;  and  not  to 
be  represented  by  any  symbol.  The  other  gods,  even  when 
addressed  as  supreme,  were  so  only  as  operative  gods.  Many 
of  the  hymns  that  survive  place  beyond  all  question  the 
existence  of  a  belief  among  the  more  cultured  in  a  one 
Supreme  Being  not  to  be  represented  by  any  symbol.  I 
give  in  a  footnote  Professor  Sayce’s  view,1  which  seems  to 
me  highly  probable. 

1  Professor  Sayce  says  (Ancient  Empires  of  the  East,  p.  60) :  ‘The  kernel 
of  the  Egyptian  state  religion  was  solar.’  At  the  head  of  the  hierarchies  of 
gods  we  have  ‘  a  form  of  the  sun-god.’  The  priesthood  could  have  no  diffi- 


THE  HAMITIC  RACES 


19 


The  popular  religion  was  on  a  much  lower  plane  of 
thought  than  that  which  we  have  been  endeavouring  briefly 
to  describe.  The  worship  of  animals,  on  the  assumption 
that  they  were,  not  merely  the  visible  symbols  of  gods,  but 
their  abode,  was  highly  characteristic  of  the  people.  It  was 
a  genuine  worship  and  encouraged  by  the  priests.  But  this 
animal  worship  seems,  as  the  nation  advanced,  to  have  been 
regarded  by  all  the  more  educated  as  merely  symbolic.  It 
clearly  mattered  little  to  the  priests  of  a  religion  which  had 
no  special  religious  moral  sanction  derived  from  the  essential 
attributes  of  the  ‘Hidden  God/  what  the  masses  worshipped, 
so  long  as  they  were  reverent  and  devotional  and  obedient.1 
And  this  they  certainly  were.  The  belief  in  amulets,  charms, 
and  incantations  was  universal. 

Along  with  the  animal  worship,  and  taking  universal 
precedence  of  it,  the  visible  objects  of  worship  were  always 
the  Sun  and  the  Nile.  The  following,  which  I  quote  from 
the  ‘  Records  of  the  Past/  vol.  iv.  (including  the  notes),  is  as 
late  as  the  19th  Dynasty  (1400  B.c.).  It  will  be  noted  that 
the  names  of  gods  are  frequently  interchangeable,  and  fur- 

culty  in  accepting  this  physical  symbol  of  the  creative  and  life-giving  source 
of  all.  It  was  to  Ptah,  the  ‘  personal  ’  creator,  that  the  sacred  bull  was 
dedicated,  in  which  he  was  incarnate.  Nor  is  the  above  central  conception 
inconsistent  with  the  cosmogonic  system,  as  given  by  Professor  Sayce,  which 
seems  to  be  prior  to  the  Theban  Dynasty.  ‘  In  the  philosophic  system  of  the 
priesthood,’  he  says,  ‘Nun,  or  Chaos,  was  the  first  cause  from  which  all  pro¬ 
ceed —  unshaped,  eternal,  and  immutable  matter.  Kheper,  the  scarabasus 
with  the  sun’s  disk,  was  the  creative  principle  of  life,  which  implanted  in 
matter  the  seeds  of  life  and  light.  Ptah,  “the  opener,”  was  the  personal 
creator  or  demiurge,  who,  along  with  the  seven  knumu,  or  architects,  gave 
form  to  these  seeds,  and  was  at  once  the  creator  and  opener  of  the  primaeval 
egg  of  the  universe  (the  ball  of  earth  rolled  along  by  Kheper),  out  of  which 
came  the  sun  and  moon  according  to  the  older  myth,  the  elements  and  forms 
of  heaven  and  earth,  according  to  the  later  philosophy.  Nut,  the  sky,  with 
the  star  and  boat  of  the  sun  on  her  back  ;  Seb,  the  earth,  symbol  of  time  and 
eternity,  and  Amenti,  or  Hades,  now  took  their  several  shapes  and  places. 
Over  this  threefold  world,  the  gods  and  other  divine  beings  presided.’ 

1  Almost  all  nations  which  have  attained  to  civilisation  have  entered  on 
the  possession  of  lands  already  inhabited  by  inferior  races.  It  is  not  improb¬ 
able  that  animal  worship  was  a  continuation  of  the  Totemism  of  the  original 
occupants  of  the  Nile  Valley. 


20 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


ther,  that  the  devotional  writer  frequently  passes  from  the 
particular  god  to  the  Universal  Source  of  Order  and  Life  — 
a  natural  transition  common  enough  in  all  poetry,  and  con¬ 
stantly  to  he  met  with  in  Egyptian  writings. 

HYMN  TO  THE  NILE 

STROPHE  I 
Adoration  of  the  Nile 

1  Hail  to  thee,  0  Nile  ! 

2  Thou  showest  thyself  in  this  land, 

3  Coming  in  peace,  giving  life  to  Egypt : 

4  0  ammon,  (thou)  leadest  night  unto  day,1 

5  A  leading  that  rejoices  the  heart ! 

6  Overflowing  the  gardens  created  by  ra.2 

7  Giving  life  to  all  animals ; 

8  Watering  the  land  without  ceasing  : 

9  The  way  of  heaven  descending  :  3 

10  Lover  of  food,  bestower  of  corn, 

11  Giving  light  to  every  home,  0  ptah  ! 

II 

1  Lord  of  fishes,  when  the  inundation  returns 

2  No  fowls  fall  on  the  cultures.4 

3  Maker  of  spelt ;  creator  of  wheat : 

4  Who  maintaineth  the  temples  ! 

1  If  this  rendering  is  correct  the  meaning  must  be  that  the  god  of  the  Nile 
is  the  secret  source  of  light ;  see  sec.  iii.  1.  5,  and  sec.  viii.  1. 1.  The  attributes 
of  Egyptian  gods,  who  represent  the  unknown  under  various  aspects,  are 
interchangeable  to  a  great  extent ;  here  the  Nile  is  Ammon,  doing  also  the 
work  of  Ra.  Dr.  Birch  suggests  that  the  rendering  may  be  ‘  hiding  his  course 
night  and  day.’ 

2  Ra,  the  sun-god,  who  is  represented  as  delighting  in  flowers,  see  Ritual 
of  the  Dead ,  lxxxvi.  :  ‘  I  am  the  pure  lily  which  comes  out  of  the  fields  of 
Ra.’ 

3  The  Nile-god  traverses  heaven;  his  course  there  corresponds  to  that  of 
the  river  on  earth. 

4  See  x.  6.  This  is  obscure,  but  it  may  mean  that  the  Nile-god  protects 
the  newly-sown  fields  from  the  birds. 


THE  HAMITIC  RACES 


21 


5  Idle  hands  lie  loathes  1 

6  For  myriads,  for  all  the  wretched. 

7  If  the  gods  in  heaven  are  grieved,2 

8  Then  sorrow  cometh  on  men. 

III 

1  He  maketh  the  whole  land  open  to  the  oxen,3 

2  And  the  great  and  the  small  are  rejoicing, 

3  The  response  of  men  at  his  coming ! 4 

4  His  likeness  is  num  ! 5 

5  He  shineth,  and  then  the  land  exulteth  ! 

6  All  bellies  are  in  joy  ! 

7  Every  creature  receives  nourishment  ! 

8  All  teeth  get  food. 

IV 

1  Bringer  of  food !  Great  Lord  of  provisions  ! 

2  Creator  of  all  good  things  ! 

3  Lord  of  terrors 6  and  of  choicest  joys  ! 

4  All  are  combined  in  him. 

5  He  produceth  grass  for  the  oxen  ; 

6  Providing  victims  for  every  god. 

7  The  choice  incense  is  that  which  he  supplies. 

8  Lord  in  both  regions, 

9  He  filleth  the  granaries,  enricheth  the  storehouses, 

10  He  careth  for  the  state  of  the  poor. 

V 

1  He  causes  growth  to  fulfil  all  desires, 

2  He  never  wearies  of  it. 

1  I.  e.  he  sets  them  at  work.  Thus,  Ritual ,  xv.  20  :  ‘  Ea,  the  giver  of  food, 
destroys  all  place  for  idleness,  cuts  off  all  excuse.’ 

2  As  they  are  by  idleness  ;  see  Ritual ,  cxxv.  p.  255,  Birch. 

3  I.  e.  he  makes  it  ready  for  cultivation. 

4  Their  joy  and  gratitude  respond  to  his  advance. 

5  Num  is  the  Nile-god  regarded  as  giving  life. 

6  The  Egyptian  word  corresponds  to  Ap<rcuprjs,  which,  according  to  Plutarch, 
signifies  rb  avbpeiov,  Isis  tt  Osiris,  c.  37.  The  Egyptians,  like  all  ancient 
people,  identify  terror  with  strength  or  greatness. 


22 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


3  He  maketh  his  might  a  buckler.1 

4  He  is  not  graven  in  marble,2 3 

5  As  an  image  bearing  the  double  crown. 

6  He  is  not  beheld  : 

7  He  hath  neither  ministrants  nor  offerings : 

8  He  is  not  adored  in  sanctuaries  : 

9  His  abode  is  not  known  : 

10  Ho  shrine  is  found  with  painted  figures.8 

VI 

1  There  is  no  building  that  can  contain  him  !  4 

2  There  is  no  councillor  in  thy  heart ! 

3  Thy  youth  delight  in  thee,  thy  children  : 

4  Thou  directest 5  them  as  King, 

5  Thy  law  is  established  in  the  whole  land, 

6  In  the  presence  of  thy  servants  of  the  Korth  : 6 

7  Every  eye  is  satisfied  with  him  :  7 

8  He  careth  for  the  abundance  of  his  blessings. 

YII 

1  The  inundation  comes  (then),  cometh  rejoicing  : 

2  Every  heart  exulteth  : 

1  This  scriptural  phrase  comes  in  abruptly.  It  is  probably  drawn  from 
some  older  source. 

2  The  true  deity  [i.e.  the  supreme  god  of  gods],  is  not  represented  by  any 
image.  This  is  a  relic  of  primaeval  monotheism,  out  of  place  as  referring  to 
the  Nile,  but  pointing  to  a  deeper  and  sounder  faith.  Compare  the  laws  of 
Manu,  i.  5-7. 

3  See  last  line  of  sec.  xiii.  There  are  no  shrines  covered,  as  usual, 
with  coloured  hieroglyphics.  The  whole  of  this  passage  is  of  extreme  im¬ 
portance,  showing  that,  apart  from  all  objects  of  idolatrous  worship,  the  old 
Egyptian  recognised  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  God,  unknown  and  incon¬ 
ceivable,  the  true  source  of  all  power  and  goodness.  Compare  the  oldest  forms 
of  the  17th  chapter  of  the  funeral  ritual  in  Lepsius,  Aelteste  Texte. 

4  1  Kings  viii.  27. 

5  Or,  ‘  thou  givest  them  counsels,  orderest  all  their  goings.’ 

6  I.  e.  1  all  magistrates  are  the  servants  of  the  deity,  and  administer  his  law 
from  south  to  north.’ 

7  Maspero,  ‘  par  lui  est  hue  l’eau  (les  pleurs)  de  tous  les  yeux,’  i.  e.  ‘  wipes 

away  tears  from  all  eyes/ 


THE  HAMITIC  RACES 


23 


3  The  tooth  of  the  crocodiles,  the  children  of  neith  1 

4  (Even)  the  circle  of  the  gods  who  are  counted  with  thee. 

5  Doth  not  its  outburst  water  the  fields, 

6  Overcoming  mortals  (with  joy)  ; 

7  Watering  one  to  produce  another?2 

8  There  is  none  who  worketh  with  him  ; 

9  He  produces  food  without  the  aid  of  neith.3 
10  Mortals  he  causes  to  rejoice. 

VIII 

1  He  giveth  light  on  his  coming  from  darkness :  4 

2  In  the  pastures  of  his  cattle 

3  His  might  produceth  all : 

4  What  was  not,  his  moisture  bringeth  to  life. 

5  Men  are  clothed  to  fill  his  gardens  : 

6  He  careth  for  his  labourers. 

7  He  maketh  even  and  noontide, 

8  He  is  the  infinite  ptah  and  kabes.5 

9  He  createth  all  works  therein, 

10  All  writings,  all  sacred  words, 

11  All  his  implements  in  the  North.6 

IX 

1  He  enters  with  words  the  interior  of  his  house,7 

2  When  he  willeth  he  goeth  forth  from  his  mystic  fane. 

3  Thy  wrath  is  destruction  of  fishes.8 

1  Dr.  Birch,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  this  rendering,  observes  that  the 
goddess  Neith  is  often  represented  with  two  crocodiles  sucking  her  breasts. 

2  I.  e.  ‘  The  Nile  fills  all  mortals  with  the  languor  of  desire,  and  gives 
fecundity.  ’ 

3  I.  e.  ‘  without  needing  rain,  the  gift  of  the  goddess  of  heaven.’  Such 
seems  to  be  the  meaning  of  a  very  obscure  passage. 

4  See  note  on  section  i. 

5  The  meaning  is  evidently  that  he  combines  the  attributes  of  Ptah,  the 
Demiurge,  and  Kabes,  an  unknown  god. 

6  All  things  serviceable  to  man  —  arms,  implements,  &c. 

7  This  seems  to  mean,  he  gives  oracles  at  his  shrine.  Observe  the  incon¬ 
sistency  of  this  with  section  5. 

8  Causing  scarcity  of  food  in  the  land.  See  Exodus  viii.  18,  21. 


24 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


4  Then  men  implore  thee  for  the  waters  of  the  season,1 

5  That  the  Thebaid  may  be  seen  like  the  Delta, 

6  That  every  man  be  seen  bearing  his  tools, 

7  No  man  left  behind  his  comrade  ! 

8  Let  the  clothed  be  unclothed, 

9  No  adornments  for  the  sons  of  nobles, 

10  No  circle  of  gods  in  the  night ! 

11  The  response  (of  the  god)  is  refreshing  water, 

12  Filling  all  men  with  fatness. 

X 

1  Establisher  of  justice  !  men  rejoice 

2  With  flattering  words  to  worship  2  thee, 

3  Worshipped  together  with  the  mighty  water  ! 

4  Men  present  offerings  of  corn, 

5  Adoring  all  the  gods  : 

6  No  fowls  fall  on  the  land.3 

7  Thy  hand  is  adorned  with  gold,4 

8  As  moulded  of  an  ingot  of  gold, 

9  Precious  as  pure  lapis  lazuli ; 5 

10  Corn  in  its  state  of  germination  is  not  eaten. 

XI 

1  The  hymn  is  addressed  to  thee  with  the  harp ; 

2  It  is  played  with  a  (skilful)  hand  to  thee  ! 

3  The  youths  rejoice  at  thee  ! 

4  Thy  own  children. 

5  Thou  hast  rewarded  their  labour. 

6  There  is  a  great  one  adorning  the  land ; 

1  In  a  season  of  scarcity  prayers  are  offered  for  supply  of  water.  The 
following  lines  seem  to  describe  great  haste  when  the  inundation  comes  on  ; 
none  wait  for  their  clothing,  even  when  valuable,  and  the  nightly  solemnities 
are  broken  up.  But  the  passage  is  obscure. 

2  Literally  answer,  i.  e.  ‘  with  thanks  and  prayers,  when  thou  bringest  the 
water  in  abundance.’ 

3  See.  ii.  2. 

4  The  gold  represents  the  preciousness  of  the  gift  of  food. 

5  This  is  often  mentioned  in  the  inscriptions  amongst  the  most  precious 
stones. 


THE  HAMITIC  RACES 


25 


7  An  enlightener,  a  buckler  in  front  of  men, 

8  Quickening  the  heart  in  depression, 

9  Loving  the  increase  of  all  his  cattle. 

XII 

1  Thou  shinest  in  the  city  of  the  King ; 

2  Then  the  householders  are  satiated  with  good  things, 

3  The  poor  man  laughs  at  the  lotus.1 

4  All  things  are  perfectly  ordered, 

5  Every  kind  of  herb  for  thy  children. 

6  If  food  should  fail, 

7  All  enjoyment  is  cast  on  the  ground, 

8  The  land  falls  in  weariness. 

XIII 

1  0  inundation  of  Xile,  offerings  are  made  to  thee : 

2  Oxen  are  slain  to  thee  : 

3  Great  festivals  are  kept  for  thee ; 

4  Fowls  are  sacrificed  to  thee  ; 

5  Beasts  of  the  field  are  caught  for  thee  ; 

6  Pure  flames  are  offered  to  thee ; 

7  Offerings  are  made  to  every  god, 

8  As  they  are  made  unto  Xile. 

9  Incense  ascends  unto  heaven, 

10  Oxen,  bulls,  fowls  are  burnt ! 

11  Xile  makes  for  himself  chasms  in  the  Thebaid  ; 2 

12  Unknown  is  his  name  in  heaven, 

13  He  doth  not  manifest  his  forms  ! 

14  Vain  are  all  representations  ! 3 

XIY 

1  Mortals  extol  (him),  and  the  cycle  of  gods  ! 

2  Awe  is  felt  by  the  terrible  ones ; 

3  His  son 4  is  made  Lord  of  all, 

1  Which  he  ate  when  he  could  get  nothing  else. 

2  An  allusion  to  the  legend  that  the  Nile  comes  forth  from  two  openings 
the  south. 

3  See  v.  last  line. 


4  The  Pharaoh. 


26 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


4  To  enlighten  all  Egypt.1 

5  Shine  forth,  shine  forth,  0  Nile  !  shine  forth ! 

6  Giving  life  to  men  by  his  oxen  : 

7  Giving  life  to  his  oxen  by  the  pastures  ! 

8  Shine  forth  in  glory,  0  Nile  ! 

But  while  the  Nile  and  the  Sun  were  always  the  supreme 
visible  gods  to  the  Egyptian,  from  a  very  early  date  the 
symbol  of  supreme  divine  power,  as  manifested  in  nature, 
did  not  restrict  itself  to  these  deities,  but  extended  to  ani¬ 
mals  as  symbolic  of  various  gods ;  and,  in  the  course  of  time, 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  with  the  masses  nothing 
remained  but  the  symbol,  with  a  vague  sense  of  some  divine 
power  behind  it.2  This  vague  sense  was,  however,  undoubtedly 
there,  and  its  existence  could  alone  justify  Ranke’s  view  that 
there  was  nothing  secular  to  the  ancient  Egyptian  ;  ‘  properly 
speaking,  there  was  nothing  profane  in  the  land.’ 3  What 
most  struck  Herodotus,  when,  in  the  middle  of  the  fifth 
century  before  the  Christian  era,  he  visited  the  country,  was 
the  extreme  religiosity  of  its  inhabitants.  ‘  The  Egyptians/ 
he  says,  ‘  are  religious  to  excess,  far  beyond  any  other  race 
of  men.  They  themselves  speak  of  the  “  thousand  gods.”  ’ 
The  greater  portion  of  the  description  of  Egypt  by  the  Greek 
historian  is  occupied  with  an  account  of  the  priests,  the 
temples,  and  the  religious  ceremonies.  In  the  architectural 
remains,  we  see  that  the  temple  dominates  the  palace,  and  is 

1  The  two  regions. 

2  ‘Who  does  not  know,’  says  Juvenal  (xv.  1),  ‘what  kinds  of  monsters 
demented  Egypt  worships  ?  ’ 

3  The  animal  worship  reached  its  culmination  at  Memphis  in  the  worship 
of  the  sacred  hull,  known  as  Hapi,  or  Apis,  an  incarnation  of  the  god  phthah. 
He  had  a  temple,  priestly  attendants,  and  a  harem  of  cows.  He  was  brought  out 
on  the  occasion  of  great  processions  and  was  worshipped  by  the  people.  When 
he  died  he  was  embalmed  and  buried  in  a  polished  granite  sarcophagus.*  It 
is  a  remarkable  spectacle  the  mixture  which  Egypt  presents  of  ‘  high  spiritual 
conceptions  with  debased  animal  worship’  (to  borrow  Professor  Sayce’s  ex¬ 
pression).  I  cannot  identify  the  ‘  high  spiritual  conceptions’  to  which  Pro¬ 
fessor  Sayce  refers,  at  least  as  far  as  the  commonalty  was  concerned. 


*  The  cost  of  his  funeral  is  said  to  have  been  about  20,000?. 


THE  H AMI  TIC  RACES 


27 


itself  dominated  by  the  tomb,  both  the  temple  and  the  tomb 
being  the  expression  of  religious  ideas.  Everywhere  in 
Egypt  gigantic  structures  upreared  themselves  into  the  air, 
enriched  with  all  that  Egyptian  art  could  supply  of  painted 
and  sculptured  decoration,  dedicated  to  the  honour,  and  bear¬ 
ing  the  sacred  name,  of  some  divinity.  The  great  temple  of 
each  city  was  the  centre  of  its  life.  A  perpetual  ceremonial 
of  the  richest  kind  went  on  within  its  walls ;  along  its  shady 
corridors,  or  through  its  sunlit  courts,  long  processions  made 
their  way  up  or  down  its  avenues  of  sphinxes.  The  calendar 
was  crowded  with  festivals,  and  a  week  rarely  passed  with¬ 
out  the  performance  of  some  special  religious  ceremony 
possessing  its  own  peculiar  attractions.1 

The  sentiment  of  religious  awe  in  the  contemplation  of  the 
facts  of  life  and  death,  did  not  interfere  with  practical  activ¬ 
ity  or  the  enjoyment  of  life.  The  mental  attitude  of  the 
Egyptian  is,  in  part  at  least,  well  expressed  in  the  festal  song 
which  was  so  universally  popular  among  them. 


FESTAL  DIRGE 

1  Wanting 

2  The  song  of  the  house  of  king  antuf,  deceased,  which  is 
(written)  in  front  of 

3  The  player  on  the  harp.2 3 
All  hail  to  the  good  Prince, 
the  worthy  good  (man)  ! 

The  body  is  fated  (1)  to  pass  away, 
the  atoms 

4  remain,  ever  since  the  time  of  the  ancestors. 

The  gods  who  were  beforetime  rest  in  their  tombs, 
the  mummies 

5  of  the  saints  likewise  are  enwrapped  in  their  tombs. 

They  who  build  houses,  and  they  who  have  no  houses,  see  ! 

1  The  above  sentences  seem  to  be  a  quotation  from  some  one  —  probably 

Rawlinson  or  Wilkinson,  I  forget  which. 

3  The  Song  of  the  Harper  in  the  tomb  of  Nefer-hotep  bears  a  great  resem¬ 
blance  to  this  composition  ;  see  Dumichen,  Historische  Inschriften ,  ii.  pi.  40. 


28 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


6  what  becomes  of  them. 

I  have  heard  the  words  of  imhotep  1  and  hartatef.2 3 
It  is  said  in  their  sayings, 

7  After  all,  what  is  prosperity  1 
Their  fenced  walls  are  dilapidated. 

Their  houses  are  as  that  which  has  never  existed. 

8  No  man  comes  from  thence 
who  tells  of  their  savings, 
who  tells  of  their  affairs, 
who  encourages  our  hearts. 

Ye  go 

9  to  the  place  whence  they  return  not.8 

Strengthen  thy  heart  to  forget  how  thou  hast  enjoyed  thyself, 
fulfil  thy  desire  whilst  thou  livest. 

10  Put  oils  upon  thy  head, 

clothe  thyself  with  fine  linen  adorned  with  precious  metals, 

11  with  the  gifts  of  God 
multiply  thy  good  things, 
yield  to  thy  desire, 

fulfil  thy  desire  with  thy  good  things 

12  (whilst  thou  art)  upon  earth 
according  to  the  dictation  of  thy  heart. 

The  day  will  come  to  thee, 

when  one  hears  not  the  voice 
when  the  one  who  is  at  rest  hears  not 

13  their  voices.4 

Lamentations  deliver  not  him  who  is  in  the  tomb. 

14  Feast  in  tranquillity,5 

seeing  that  there  is  no  one  who  carries  away  his  goods  with 
him. 

Yea,  behold,  none  who  goes  thither  comes  back  again.6 

1  Imhotep,  the  son  of  the  primaeval  deity  Ptah,  was  the  mythical  author  of 
various  arts  and  sciences.  The  Greeks  spelt  the  name  Imopth,  but  more  fre¬ 
quently  substituted  the  name  Asclepios. 

2  Hartatef  was  the  son  of  King  Menkera  (Mycerinus),  to  whom  the  discov¬ 
ery  of  part  of  the  Ritual  (cap.  lxiv.)  is  attributed,  and  who  was  the  author  of 
a  mystical  work. 

3  Compare  the  Assyrian  phrase  ‘  The  land  men  cannot  return  from.' 
‘Descent  of  Ishtar,’  Records  of  the  Past ,  vol.  i.  p.  143;  ii.  p.  5. 

4  I.e.  ‘  of  the  mourners.’  5  Here  follows  a  lacuna. 

6  From  Records  of  the  Past ,  iv.  117. 


THE  HAMIT I C  RACES 


29 


The  beliefs  and  worship  of  the  Egyptians,  while  giving 
expression  to  a  sombre  religious  sentiment  and  a  feeling  of 
profound  awe  in  contemplating  Nature,  the  life  of  man  and 
above  all  the  stern  fact  of  Death,  exercised  great  influence 
in  teaching  reverence  generally,  and  consequently  submis¬ 
siveness  and  obedience.  But  they  had  little  moral  signifi¬ 
cance.  The  only  potent  ethical  force  in  the  system  of 
religious  thought  was  the  belief  in  immortality.  When  this 
had  fully  emerged  from  its  cruder  form  of  ancestor  worship, 
it  assumed  a  character  which  places  it  on  a  high  level,  and 
far  above  the  conceptions  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  A 
great  and  godlike  future  life  was  secured  by  a  good  life  on 
earth.  The  human  spirit  which  had  been  weighed  in  the 
balances  of  the  Hall  of  Osiris  returned  to  the  God  of  Light, 
but  yet  retained  its  individuality.  There  arose  in  connection 
with  this  an  ideal  of  conduct.  That  this  ideal  was  under¬ 
stood  or  fully  realised  by  the  masses  it  is  absurd  to  suppose. 
Indeed,  among  all  classes  the  morality  seems  to  have  been 
often  as  low  in  practice  as  it  was  elevated  in  theory.  But 
what  shall  we  say  of  Christianity  itself  after  1900  years  of 
existence  ?  The  following  dirge  well  expresses  the  higher 
thought  on  life  and  immortality  and  reveals  the  undercur¬ 
rent  of  melancholy  in  the  Egyptian  mind. 

THE  SONG  OF  THE  HARPER 

Chanted  by  the  singer  to  the  harp  who  is  in  the  chapel  of  the 
Osirian,  the  Patriarch  of  Amen,  the  blessed  Nefer-liotep. 

He  says : 

The  great  one  is  truly  at  rest, 
the  good  charge  is  fulfilled. 

Men  pass  away  since  the  time  of  ra,1 
and  the  youths  come  in  their  stead. 

Like  as  ra  reappears  every  morning, 
and  tum  2  sets  in  the  horizon, 
men  are  begetting, 

1  The  sun. 

2  A  form  of  the  sun  god  of  the  west,  the  chief  god  of  Heliopolis. 


30 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


and  women  are  conceiving. 

Every  nostril  inhaleth  once  the  breezes  of  dawn, 
but  all  born  of  women  go  down  to  their  places. 

Make  a  good  day,  0  holy  father  ! 

Let  odours  and  oils  stand  before  thy  nostril. 

Wreaths  of  lotus  are  on  the  arms  and  the  bosom  of  thy  sister, 
dwelling  in  thy  heart,  sitting  beside  thee. 

Let  song  and  music  be  before  thy  face, 
and  leave  behind  thee  all  evil  cares  ! 

Mind  thee  of  joy,  till  cometh  the  day  of  pilgrimage, 
when  we  draw  near  the  land  which  loveth  silence. 

Not  .... 1  peace  of  heart  .  .  .  . 2  his  loving  son. 

Make  a  good  day,  0  blessed  neferhotep, 
thou  Patriarch  perfect  and  pure  of  hands ! 

He  finished  his  existence  .  .  (the  common  fate  of  men). 

Their  abodes  pass  away, 

and  their  place  is  not ; 

they  are  as  they  had  never  been  born 

since  the  time  of  ra. 

(They  in  the  shades)  are  sitting  on  the  bank  of  the  river, 
thy  soul  is  among  them,  drinking  its  sacred  water, 
following  thy  heart,  at  peace  .... 

Give  bread  to  him  whose  field  is  barren, 

thy  name  will  be  glorious  in  posterity  for  evermore  *, 

they  will  look  upon  thee  .... 

(The  Priest  clad  in  the  skin) 3  of  a  panther  will  pour  to  the  ground, 
and  bread  will  be  given  as  offerings ; 
the  singing  women  .... 

Their  forms  are  standing  before  ra, 
their  persons  are  protected  .... 
rannu  4  will  come  at  her  hour, 

1  Lacuna.  2  Lacuna. 

3  The  panther’s  skin  was  the  special  characteristic  of  the  dress  of  the  priest 
of  Khem,  the  vivifier. 

4  Rannu,  an  Egyptian  goddess  who  presided  over  the  harvest. 

Someone,  I  think,  has  suggested  that  the  esoteric  doctrine  of  the  priest¬ 
hood  was  this  :  The  self-begetting  Hidden  One  gives  birth  to  Osiris  the 
animating  principle  (Light  of  God  and  of  life  after  death),  and  Isis  as 
Nature  —  the  manifestation  of  this  principle  in  conflict  with  Set  —  darkness 
and  evil. 


THE  HAMIT  I C  RACES 


31 


and  shu  will  calculate  his  day, 

thou  shalt  awake  ....  (woe  to  the  bad  one  !) 

He  shall  sit  miserable  in  the  heat  of  infernal  fires. 

Make  a  good  day,  0  holy  father, 
neferhotep,  pure  of  hands. 

No  works  of  buildings  in  Egypt  could  avail, 
his  resting  place  is  all  his  wealth  .... 

Let  me  return  to  know  what  remaineth  of  him  ! 

Not  the  least  moment  could  be  added  to  his  life, 

(when  he  went  to)  the  realm  of  eternity. 

Those  who  have  magazines  full  of  bread  to  spend 
even  they  shall  encounter  the  hour  of  a  last  end. 

The  moment  of  that  day  will  diminish  the  valour  of  the 
rich  .... 

Mind  thee  of  the  day,  when  thou  too  shalt  start  for  the  land, 
to  which  one  goeth  to  return  not  thence. 

Good  for  thee  then  will  have  been  (an  honest  life), 
therefore  be  just  and  hate  transgressions, 
for  he  who  loveth  justice  (will  be  blessed), 

The  coward  and  the  bold,  neither  can  fly,  (the  grave) 
the  friendless  and  proud  are  alike  .... 

Then  let  thy  bounty  give  abundantly  as  is  fit, 

(love)  truth,  and  isis  shall  bless  the  good, 

(and  thou  shalt  attain  a  happy)  old  age.1 

Literature  and  Art.  —  Intellectually,  the  Egyptians  must 
take  high  rank,  though  they  cannot  for  a  moment  compare 
with  the  great  European  races  whose  rise  was  later  —  the 
Greeks  and  Eomans.  Their  minds  possessed  much  subtlety 
and  acuteness  ;  they  were  fond  of  literary  composition  ;  they 
made  great  advances  in  most  of  the  arts  and  sciences  and 
were  in  every  department  of  life  intelligent  and  ingenious. 
It  is  astonishing  what  an  extensive  literature  they  possessed 
at  a  very  early  date  —  books  on  religion,  on  morals,  law, 
rhetoric,  arithmetic,  mensuration,  geometry,  medicine,  books 
of  travels,  and,  above  all,  novels !  There  were  many  poems 

1  From  Records  of  the  Past ,  vi.  129. 


32 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


also,  and  some  of  the  love-stories,  it  is  said,  are  fairly  good.1 
As  early  as  the  6th  Dynasty  (3500  B.c.)  an  official  bears  the 
title  of  ‘  Governor  of  the  House  of  Books.  ’  But  the  literary 
merit  of  the  Egyptian  works  is  slight.  The  novels,  we  are 
informed  by  Egyptologists,  are  vapid  and  often  licentious,  the 
medical  treatises  interlarded  with  charms  and  exorcisms,  the 
travels  devoid  of  interest,  the  general  style  of  all  the  books 
forced  and  stilted.  Egypt  is  said  to  have  stimulated  Greek 
speculation  by  some  of  its  doctrines ;  but  otherwise  it  cannot 
be  said  that  the  world  owes  much  of  its  purely  intellectual 
progress  to  this  people,  about  whose  literary  productions,  it 
is  said  by  experts,  there  is  always  something  that  is  weak,  if 
not  childish.  The  rhythmically  constructed  book  of  practical 
precepts  by  Ptah-lietep2  already  referred  to  as  the  oldest 
book  in  the  world  is,  however,  valuable  for  its  counsels,  as 
well  as  its  practical  sagacity.  Philosophic  speculation  seems 
to  have  received  no  contribution  from  the  higher  doctrines  of 
the  priesthood. 

In  Art,  the  power  which  the  Egyptians  exhibited  was 
greater  than  in  thought ;  but  the  very  highest  qualities  of  art 
were  wanting,  although  there  was  a  period  when  it  attained 
to  great  excellence  in  bas-reliefs  and  colour.  That  it  did  not 
make  greater  progress  is  a  matter  for  surprise  to  anyone  who 
will  look  at  the  wooden  head  to  which  the  date  3700  B.c.  is 
assigned  and  a  drawing  of  which  will  be  found  in  Brugsch’s 
‘History’  and  Maspero’s  ‘Egyptian  Archseology.’  In  one 
department,  however,  it  was  art  of  a  very  high  order,  for  the 
architecture  produces  its  effect  not  only  by  its  mass,  according 
to  Eergusson  (‘  History  of  Architecture  ’),  but  also  by  its  har¬ 
mony  of  proportion.  He  says  that  the  Hall  in  Karnak  ‘  is 
the  noblest  effort  of  architectural  magnificence  ever  produced 
by  the  hand  of  man.’  The  skill  exhibited  in  overcoming  diffi¬ 
culties  in  construction  is  also  marvellous.  In  building,  sculp- 

1  Professor  Flinders  Petrie  has  issued  translations  of  stories  from  the 
papyri. 

2  Or  Ptah-hotep,  as  in  Records  of  the  Past,  in  vol.  iii.  of  which  the  Pre¬ 
cepts  are  translated. 


THE  HA  MITIC  RACES 


33 


ture,  and  colour  decoration  generally,  we  find  in  Egypt  the 
‘  dawn  of  artistic  development  for  the  whole  human  race/ 
(Kanke.) 

Social  Condition.  —  The  classes  were  so  separated  one 
from  another  that  it  was  long  believed  that  the  caste  system 
prevailed,  as  among  the  Hindus.  It  was  not  so,  however ; 
there  was  no  rigid  and  compulsory  system  of  division.  In  a 
general  way,  it  would  seem  to  be  right  to  adopt  the  classifica¬ 
tion  of  Strabo,  and  to  say  that  the  entire  free  population  of 
Egypt  which  did  not  belong  to  the  sacerdotal  or  the  military 
order,  formed  a  sort  of  third  estate,  which  admitted  of  sub¬ 
divisions,  but  is  properly  to  be  regarded  as  politically  a  single 
body.  The  soldiers  and  the  priests  were  privileged :  the  rest 
of  the  community  was  without  privilege  of  any  kind ;  but 
the  recognised  usages  and  customs,  as  well  as  law,  gave  them 
protection. 

Of  all  the  classes,  that  of  the  priests  was  the  most  power¬ 
ful,  and  the  most  carefully  organised.  Priests  often  held 
important  political  offices ;  they  served  in  the  army  also,  and 
received  rich  gifts  for  their  services.  Many  of  them  accumu¬ 
lated  great  wealth  through  these  secular  employments,  and 
their  residences  were  of  a  luxurious  kind.  But  they  were 
only  partially  hereditary  and  grew  up  into  an  established 
Order  slowly.  They  were  divided  into  several  classes ;  and 
next  to  them  came  four  orders  of  prophets,  and  below  them 
again  the  ‘  divine  fathers.’  Sacred  scribes  and  servitors  were 
attached  to  the  temples.  In  the  precincts,  monks  occupied 
cells.  There  were  also  priestesses,  and  prophetesses  (among 
whom  were  to  be  found  women  of  the  highest  rank),  the 
singing  women,  and  the  sistrum  players  of  the  ‘  Hidden  One.’ 
The  priests  and  their  families  and  subordinate  ministers 
were  maintained  out  of  the  revenues  of  the  temple  and 
formed  a  corporation. 

Besides  agriculture  and  the  trades  and  handicrafts  in  which 
so  many  of  the  Egyptians  found  occupation  for  their  time  and. 
talents,  a  considerable  portion  of  the  population  pursued 
employments  of  a  more  elevated  and  intellectual  character. 

3 


34 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Sculpture,  painting,  and  music  had  their  respective  votaries, 
and  engaged  the  services  of  a  large  number  of  artists.  If 
dancing  is  to  be  viewed  as  a  ‘  fine  art,’  we  may  add  to  these 
the  paid  dancers,  who  were  numerous,  but  were  not  held  in 
very  high  estimation. 

Of  learned  professions  in  Egypt  outside  the  priesthood,  the 
most  important  was  that  of  the  Scribe,  which  might  be  called 
the  literary  profession,  though  not  in  the  sense  of  authorship. 
Though  writing  (at  least  the  cursive  or  demotic  in  later 
times,  about  900  B.c.)  was  an  ordinary  accomplishment  of 
the  industrial  classes,  and  scribes  were  not,  therefore,  so 
absolutely  necessary  as  in  most  Eastern  countries  for  general 
correspondence,  yet  there  was  still  a  large  number  of  occupa¬ 
tions  for  which  professional  penmanship  was  a  pre-requisite, 
and  others  that  demanded  legal  knowledge,  and  skill  in 
forms  of  transfer  and  of  business  and  in  the  due  recording  of 
ceremonials  and  contracts.  Moreover,  a  scribe  would  often 
profess  not  only  the  demotic  cursive  script,  but  also  the 
ideographic 1  and  hieratic,  and  then  his  prospects  of  promotion 
were  considerable.  The  Egyptian  religion  necessitated  the 
multiplication  of  copies  of  the  ‘  Kitual  of  the  Dead/  and  the 
employment  of  numerous  clerks  in  the  registration  of  the 
sacred  treasures  and  the  management  of  the  sacred  estates : 
also  librarians  for  the  care  and  multiplication  of  MSS.  The 
civil  administration  also  depended  largely  upon  a  system  of 
registration  and  of  official  reports  which  were  perpetually 
being  made  to  the  court  by  the  superintendents  in  all  depart¬ 
ments  of  the  public  service,  which  was  a  highly  organised 
bureaucracy.  Most  private  persons  of  large  means,  also,  kept 
bailiff’s  or  secretaries  who  made  up  their  accounts,  paid  their 
labourers,  and  otherwise  acted  as  managers  of  their  property. 
In  commerce  of  all  kinds  scribes  were  indispensable.  There 
were  thus  numerous  lucrative  posts  which  could  be  properly 
filled  only  by  persons  who  were  ready  with  the  pen,  familiar 
with  the  different  kinds  of  writing,  and  good  at  figures.  The 

1  The  ideographic  or  hieroglyphic  was  picture-writing,  but  even  in  early 
times  the  hieratic  which  represented  the  sounds  of  words  was  invented. 


THE  HAMITIC  RACES 


35 


occupation  of  scribe  was  regarded  as  one  befitting  men  from 
the  middle  ranks  of  society,  who  might  otherwise  have  been 
blacksmiths,  carpenters,  small  farmers,  or  the  like.  If  scribes 
failed  to  obtain  government  appointments,  they  might  still 
hope  to  have  their  services  engaged  by  the  rich  corporations 
which  had  the  management  of  the  Temples,  or  by  private 
individuals  of  good  means,  or  in  business  houses.  Hence  the 
scribe  readily  persuaded  himself  that  his  occupation  was  the 
first  and  best  of  all  human  employments.  And  assuming 
that  Tiele  and  others  are  correct  in  saying  that  the  priest¬ 
hood  was  only  partially  hereditary,  the  scribes  would  natur¬ 
ally  look  to  the  priestly  profession  as  a  possible  occupation 
bringing  both  money  and  influence. 

The  great  number  of  persons  who  practised  Medicine  in 
Egypt  is  mentioned  by  Herodotus,  who  further  notices  the 
remarkable  fact  that,  besides  general  practitioners,  there  were 
many  who  devoted  themselves  to  special  branches  of  medical 
science,  some  being  oculists,  some  dentists,  some  skilled  in 
treating  diseases  of  the  brain,  some  those  of  the  intestines, 
and  so  on.  According  to  a  modern  authority,  the  physicians 
constituted  a  special  subdivision  of  the  sacerdotal  order ;  but 
this  statement  is  open  to  question,  though  physicians  may 
have  belonged  for  the  most  part  to  the  priest  class. 

The  profession  of  Architect  in  some  respects  took  pre¬ 
cedence  over  any  other.  The  chief  court  architect  was  a 
functionary  of  the  highest  importance,  ranking  among  the 
most  exalted  officials.  Considering  the  character  of  the 
duties  entrusted  to  him,  this  was  only  natural,  since  the  kings 
generally  set  more  store  upon  their  buildings  than  upon  any 
other  matter.  Religion  and  architecture  were  closely  associ¬ 
ated.  ‘At  the  time  when  the  construction  of  the  pyramids 
and  other  tombs,’  says  Brugsch,  ‘  demanded  artists  of  the  first 
order,  we  find  the  place  of  architect  entrusted  to  the  highest 
dignitaries  of  the  court  of  the  Pharaohs.  The  royal  architects 
recruited  their  ranks  not  un frequently  from  the  class  of 
princes  ;  and  the  inscriptions  engraved  upon  the  walls  of 
their  tombs  inform  us  that,  almost  without  exception,  they 


36 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


married  either  the  daughters  or  the  grand-daughters  of  the 
reigning  sovereigns,  who  did  not  refuse  the  architect  this 
honour/  Schools  of  architects  had  to  he  formed  in  order  to 
secure  a  succession  of  competent  persons,  and  the  chief  archi¬ 
tect  of  the  king  was  only  the  most  successful  out  of  many 
aspirants,  who  were  educationally  and  socially  upon  a  par. 
Practical  builders  and  the  ordinary  sculptors  constituted  a 
lower  class.  It  has  been  well  said  that  the  Egyptians  might 
be  classed  apart  as  a  nation  of  monumental  builders.  We 
can  understand  the  importance  assigned  to  the  profession  of 
architect. 

Finally,  Engineering  must  have  been  an  important 
profession  in  a  land  of  irrigation  and  embankments. 

Women.  —  The  relations  of  the  sexes  were  decidedly  on 
a  better  footing  in  Egypt  than  at  Athens  or  in  G-reece  gen¬ 
erally,  save  perhaps  in  Sparta.  Not  only  was  polygamy  rare 
among  the  inhabitants  of  the  Nile  Valley  (although  per¬ 
mitted  by  law),  but  woman  even  took  her  proper  rank  as 
the  friend  and  companion  of  man.  She  was  never  secluded 
in  a  harem,  but  constantly  made  her  appearance  alike  in 
private  company  and  in  the  ceremonies  of  religion,  possessed 
equal  rights  with  man  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  shared  equally 
with  her  brothers  in  her  father’s  estate,  was  attached  to 
temples  in  a  quasi-sacerdotal  character,  and  might  ascend 
the  throne  and  administer  the  government.  Even  among 
the  poorest  classes  the  rights  of  the  women  were  respected. 
She  shared  equally  with  her  brothers  in  any  inheritance 
there  might  be,  and  was  left  free  to  manage  and  direct  the 
household.  Her  occupations  were  water-carrying,  grinding 
the  grain,  and  making  bread  for  the  daily  consumption.  She 
span,  wove,  and  made  and  mended  the  few  clothes  required 
in  the  Egyptian  climate.  If  she  was  the  wife  of  an  agri¬ 
culturist,  she  went  to  market  to  sell  poultry  and  eggs  and 
the  butter  she  had  made,  or  the  linen  she  had  woven.  A 
large  family  was  regarded  as  a  blessing  ;  and  it  may  be  easily 
understood,  consequently,  that  the  wife  and  mother  had  a 
hard  life  and  grew  prematurely  old.  But  she  had  freedom 


THE  HAMITIC  RACES 


37 


to  come  and  go  as  she  pleased,  with  uncovered  face,  and  talk 
with  whom  she  pleased.  Among  the  labouring  classes,  how¬ 
ever,  the  woman  who  lived  with  a  man  was  not  always 
married  to  him ;  and  among  the  well-to-do,  concubinage  was 
not  uncommon. 

Meanwhile  the  mass  of  the  people  —  the  fellahin  —  were 
as  poor,  oppressed,  and  miserable  as  in  modern  times.  They 
lived  from  day  to  day  and  hand  to  mouth.  Their  chief 
virtue  was  obedience  to  their  superiors,  and  they  were  well 
inured  to  the  ‘  stick.’  Forced  labour  was  common.  The 
craftsmen  formed  corporations  and  depended  on  their  ‘  mas¬ 
ters  ’  or  presidents  for  the  recognition  of  their  rights  and  for 
justice.  The  monuments,  it  seems,  bear  witness  to  the  fact 
that  both  peasants  and  artisans  were,  notwithstanding  their 
poverty  and  oppression,  a  cheerful  race  and  fond  of  merri¬ 
ment.  This  is  quite  possible ;  for  we  often  find  a  ‘  happy-go- 
lucky  ’  spirit  and  an  enjoyment  of  the  passing  hour  among 
people  who  are  quite  at  the  bottom  of  the  social  scale.  They 
have  been  trained  by  circumstances  to  improvidence  ;  they 
cannot  fall  lower,  and  to  rise  higher  is  almost  impossible. 

To  sum  up :  Taken  as  a  whole  we  may  say  that  the 
ancient  Egyptians,  or,  let  us  say,  the  ‘  average  man  ’  among 
them  was,  intellectually,  eminently  practical.  His  religion 
was  not  a  reasoned  or  philosophic  religion  even  in  its  highest 
forms.  It  was,  in  its  highest  form,  the  fruit  of  a  dreamy  med¬ 
itation  on  the  broad  aspects  of  life  and  death  rather  than  of 
speculative  analysis ;  in  its  vulgar  form  a  mixture  of  animal 
worship  and  debased  superstitions.  In  ethics  his  morality 
was  preceptive  and  dogmatic  —  not  a  subject  of  philosophic 
investigation.  His  artistic  tastes  were  limited  to  the  sym¬ 
bolic  and  realistic  and  did  not  embrace  ideal  forms,  save  in 
architecture  ;  and  even  in  architecture  the  grandeur  is  due 
to  its  symbolic  character.  Personally,  he  was  grave  and 
serious,  industrious,  orderly,  kindly,  peaceable,  and  submis¬ 
sive.  And,  with  all  his  gravity  and  seriousness  he  (as  we 
now  learn  from  Egyptologists)  seems  to  have  enjoyed  life 
and  to  have  been  fond  of  merriment. 


38 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


The  preceding  synopsis  of  Egyptian  life  (as  accurate  as  I 
can  make  it  in  so  short  a  space)  shows  that  in  this  Nile 
Valley  a  highly  civilised  people,  among  whom  the  art  of 
government  was  organised  down  to  the  minutest  bureaucratic 
detail,  existed  as  a  community  under  monarchs  for  more  than 
4,000  years  before  Christ.  ‘With  the  4th  Dynasty’  (4235 
B.c.),  says  M.  Mariette,  ‘  Egypt  emerges  from  the  obscurity 
with  which  it  is,  till  then,  surrounded,  and  we  are  enabled  to 
date  facts  by  the  help  of  the  monuments.  .  .  .  The  4th 
Dynasty  marks  a  culminating  point  in  the  history  of  the 
kingdom.  By  an  extraordinary  movement  forward,  Egypt 
threw  off  all  trammels  and  emerged  in  the  full  glory  of  a 
fully  developed  civilisation.  From  this  moment  class  dis¬ 
tinctions  were  recognised  in  Egyptian  society,  and  art 
attained  a  breadth  and  dignity  that  even  in  later  and  more 
brilliant  days  were  hardly  surpassed.’ 1 

Even  Chinese  civilisation  is  a  thing  of  yesterday  as  com¬ 
pared  with  the  Egyptian.  Here  we  see  what  a  nation,  prac¬ 
tically  excluded  from  alien  influences,  could  accomplish  for 
its  own  indigenous  growth  in  political  life,  in  social  justice, 
in  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  in  education.  It  was  overrun, 
rather  than  conquered,  by  the  Hyksos,  Assyrians,  Persians, 
Greeks,  and  Bomans.  The  country  seems  to  have  gone  on 
its  way  very  little  influenced  by  foreign  interference  with  its 
native  dynasties.  It  is  this  that  makes  Egypt  so  interesting 
a  study  in  world-history.  Its  geographical  position  secured  its 
originality.  Doubtless  it  had  to  pay  a  price  for  its  exclusive¬ 
ness,  for  it  suffered  from  the  absence  of  the  stimulus  which 
almost  all  civilised  nations  have  received  from  imported 
ideas. 


EDUCATION  IN  EGYPT 

The  Education  of  a  nation  is  to  be  found  in  the  character¬ 
istics  of  its  civilisation.  It  has  educated  itself  by  every  pro¬ 
gressive  step  it  takes  in  religion,  politics,  justice,  arts,  and 

1  Mariette’s  Outlines ,  translated  by  Miss  Brodrick. 


THE  HAMITIC  RACES 


39 


thought.  The  ever-accumulating  tradition  of  the  people  is 
passed  on  from  parents  to  children  and  made  permanent  in 
institutions.  The  present  has  been  created  by  the  past.  In 
the  above  endeavour,  then,  to  estimate  the  character,  life,  and 
institutions  of  ancient  Egypt,  we  have  been  virtually  giving 
an  account  of  its  national  education. 

The  education  of  the  young  Egyptian,  in  brief,  was  through 
the  religion,  morality,  law,  and  social  customs  of  his  native 
land.  The  general  influences  of  the  inherited  civilisation 
would  of  course  be  felt  in  different  ways  according  to  the 
social  position  and  opportunities  of  the  children.  Compared 
with  the  youth  of  other  nations  the  Egyptian  of  the  lower 
classes  grew  up,  we  may  think,  too  patient  of  toil  and  the 
stick ;  but,  spite  of  the  oppressive  conditions  of  life,  there 
seem  to  have  been  prevalent  a  mildness,  kindness,  and  equity 
of  disposition  and  a  simplicity  of  life  and  domestic  relations 
which  an  organised  educational  system  might  have  failed  to 
secure.  I  should  say  that  they  compared  very  favourably  as 
regards  their  moral  training  and  their  sentiments  of  religious 
reverence  with  the  lowest  stratum  in  Great  Britain  now. 
All,  however,  lacked  the  education  which  free  political  life 
gives,  and  we  find  that,  where  this  is  the  case,  it  operates  to 
deprive  men  of  initiative,  reacting  on  the  whole  intellectual 
life,  making  it  torpid  and  content  with  the  status  quo,  what¬ 
ever  that  may  be.  Doubtless,  the  political  constitution  was, 
to  begin  with,  itself  an  expression  of  a  certain  racial  temper¬ 
ament,  but  it  reacted  on  the  popular  mind  so  as  to  confirm 
natural  predisposition.  If  we  may  make  a  distinction  be¬ 
tween  individuality  and  that  personality  which  comes  into 
life  along  with  the  free  exercise  of  self-conscious  reason,  we 
should  say  that  there  was  in  the  ancient  Egyptian  a  marked 
individuality  exhibiting  itself  in  a  keen  practical  intelligence, 
but  that  personality  as  we  find  it  in  European  nations  was 
absent.  ISTor  do  we  find  this  sense  of  personality,  with 
which  is  always  associated  the  idea  of  self-direction  and  self- 
government,  in  any  of  the  Oriental  races,  except  the  Persians 
(and  that  empire  was  a  short-lived  phenomenon)  and  the 


40 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Jews ;  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  strong  sense 
of  personality  existed,  in  both  cases,  side  by  side  with  an 
intense  monotheism.  This  fact  suggests  many  thoughts 
which  would  be  here  out  of  place. 

The  practical  intelligence  of  the  Egyptian  race  had  an 
immense  field  for  its  activity.  They  had  to  devise  the 
engineering  works  which  enabled  them  to  utilise  the  Nile ; 
and  every  year  they  had  a  recurring  struggle  to  maintain 
their  supremacy  over  it.  With  comparatively  little  foreign 
trade  they  had  themselves  to  produce  the  articles  of  necessity 
and  luxury  which  a  growing  nation  requires.  Thus  all  the 
industrial  arts  flourished,  and,  apart  from  the  professions, 
every  boy  had  an  industrial  or  technical  education  from 
his  own  father.  We  are  told  in  these  days  that  manual 
work  is  educative,  but  how  much  more  educative  the  pro¬ 
longed  and  careful  training  required  for  the  acquisition  of 
a  skilled  trade  with  all  its  traditions !  The  Egyptian  boy 
had  this. 

On  the  spiritual  side  he  was  under  powerful  influences, 
he  breathed  an  atmosphere  of  mystery  and  awe,  and  lived 
in  the  constant  presence  of  gods,  and  in  expectation  of  im¬ 
mortality.  His  crude  conceptions  of  the  unseen  were,  it  is 
true,  associated  with  magic  and  sorcery ; 1  but  has  modern 
Europe  no  superstitions  equally  absurd?  We  boast  our¬ 
selves  of  our  religion,  but  it  is  difficult  for  us  with  all  our 
affected  superiority  to  realise  the  extent  to  which  the  con¬ 
stant  presence  of  unseen  powers  pressed  on  the  daily  life 
of  a  race  like  the  Egyptians.  We  look  hack  with  a  feeling 
akin  to  contempt  on  their  faith  in  magic,  sorcery  and  in¬ 
cantations,  forgetting  that  the  more  educated  classes  have 
merely  to  give  the  word  and  one  half  of  Christendom  would, 
even  now,  he  plunged  to  the  neck  in  similar  beliefs. 

In  the  bringing  up  of  children  there  seems  to  have  been 

1  Mr.  Flinders  Petrie,  in  Ten  Years'  Digging,  says  that  the  modern 
fellahin  are  a  prey  to  gross  superstition  and  worshippers  of  innumerable 
local  saints,  and  full  of  faith  in  magic  and  charms.  This  was  equally  true 
of  their  ancestors  6,000  years  ago,  under  a  totally  different  religious  system. 


THE  HAMIT 10  RACES 


41 


much  kindliness.  They  had  their  toys  and  games  and 
nursery  stories  like  other  children  all  the  world  over. 

Instruction  of  the  People. — It  is  possible  that  the 
facilities  for  obtaining  school  instruction  in  ancient  Egypt 
have  been  much  exaggerated.1  But,  theoretically  at  least, 
all  that  was  known  or  knowable  was  open  to  all  except 
such  esoteric  doctrines  (if  any)  as  the  higher  priesthood  may 
have  possessed.  There  is  evidence  that  if  there  were  not 
numerous  elementary  schools  scattered  over  the  country, 
yet  teachers  might  always  be  had,  and  that  reading  and  writ¬ 
ing  and  the  elements  of  arithmetic  were  accessible  to  those 
who  desired  instruction.  There  is  no  evidence,  however,  it 
seems  to  me,  that  the  labouring  class  received  any  benefit 
from  these  schools  save  in  exceptional  cases ;  but  there  was 
nothing  to  prevent  a  clever  boy,  whose  parents  were  well- 
disposed,  receiving  elementary  instruction.  On  the  whole, 
I  cannot  see  that  on  this  point  modern  exploration  has 
added  much  to  the  information  given  by  Diodorus  Siculus, 
i.  81,  who  says,  ‘A  little  reading  and  writing  are  taught, 
but  not  to  all;  but  to  those  engaged  with  the  industrial 
arts.’  At  the  chief  provincial  cities  (in  connection  with  the 
Temple  which  was  the  centre  of  the  civic  life)  more  ad¬ 
vanced  instruction  was  obtainable,  including  the  writing 
and  reading  of  the  hieratic  and  hieroglyphic  character  and 
mathematics.  These  higher  schools  doubtless  supplied  the 
professions. 

The  Professions.  —  I  have  been  speaking  of  the  masses 
generally ;  but  outside  and  above  the  masses  were  the 
professions.  And  the  vital  question  connected  with  Egyp¬ 
tian  education  is  this.  Were  the  professions  open  to  all  ? 
It  is  now  generally  held  that  they  were  open ;  but  the  fact 
that  for  long  the  caste-organisation  was  believed  to  be  the 
chief  characteristic  of  the  Egyptian  social  system  must 
satisfy  us  that,  in  all  save  exceptional  cases,  children  fol- 

1  The  inferences  drawn  from  incidental  phrases  by  philo-Egyptians  are 
often  more  than  questionable. 


42 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


lowed  the  occupation  of  their  parents.  Still  I  say  the 
way  was  open  for  clever  boys,  and  this  is  the  important 
point. 

The  higher  and  professional  education  had  for  its  chief 
aim  the  Scribe.  A  young  man  who  was  a  scribe  would  hold 
in  Egyptian  society  the  position  assigned  to  an  university 
graduate  now,  or  to  a  literate  in  China.  A  scribe  was  not 
necessarily  also  an  architect  or  a  physician  or  a  priest, 
although  these  professional  men  had  of  course  the  accom¬ 
plishment  of  scribes.  I  would  refer  back  to  what  I  have 
already  said  as  to  the  function  of  the  scribe,  and  the  numer¬ 
ous  lucrative  openings,  conferring  a  certain  social  standing, 
that  awaited  him.  An  accomplished  scribe  would  have 
acquired  the  cursive  or  demotic  script  in  which  the  ordinary 
affairs  of  life  were  transacted  and  also  the  hieratic  in  which 
the  records  and  traditions  of  all  professions  were  written,  and 
finally,  the  ideographic  or  hieroglyphic.  He  would  also  be 
an  arithmetician,  as  then  understood,  and  have  an  adequate 
knowledge  of  the  law  as  affecting  ordinary  affairs  and  busi¬ 
ness  contracts.  What  else  he  might  study  or  acquire 
depended  on  his  aims  and  ambitions.  I  would  point  out 
(subject  to  the  correction  of  Egyptologists)  that  there  must 
have  been  two  classes  of  scribes :  first,  there  w~as  a  large 
class,  which,  after  a  certain  amount  of  preliminary  educa¬ 
tion,  entered  as  apprentices  the  service  of  those  scribes  who 
conducted  commercial  and  family  affairs.  A  hoy  displaying 
some  intelligence  would  he  sent  to  the  village  school  at  six 
or  seven,  where  some  old  pedagogue  would  teach  him  the 
rudiments  of  the  three  B’s.  If  he  did  not  find  his  way  next 
to  a  provincial  school,  he  would  enter  an  office  that  he 
might  become  a  *  learned  scribe.’  Occupied  there  in  copying 
letters,  circulars,  and  legal  documents,  his  master  supervis¬ 
ing  his  work  and  correcting  it  while  the  hoy  rewrites  it,  he 
gradually  acquires  a  competent  acquaintance  with  writing 
and  with  business  and  legal  forms  of  all  kinds.  If  he  aims 
at  a  knowledge  of  the  hieratic  script  he  will  have  to  copy 
from  books  which  contain  examples.  Having  gone  through 


THE  HAMITIC  RACES 


43 


this  apprenticeship,  he  applies  for  a  better  post.1  The  com¬ 
mercial  or  notarial  scribe  is  described  in  the  above  passage : 
and  we  also  see  indicated  the  higher  class  of  scribe,  who 
studied  at  the  central  temple  schools  and  became  an  expert 
in  all  kinds  of  script  and  a  student  of  law  and  administra¬ 
tion.  The  latter  might  attain  to  a  very  high  social  position. 
'  Neither  descent  nor  family,’  says  Brugsch,  ‘  hampered  the 
rising  career  of  the  clever.’  The  higher  scribe  schools  were 
connected  with  the  royal  court  and  also  with  the  pro¬ 
vincial  courts,  and  were  conducted  by  a  high  official.  Baw- 
linson  says,  'Egypt  provided  an  open  career  for  talent  such 
as  scarcely  existed  elsewhere  in  the  old  world,  and  such  as 
few  modern  communities  can  be  said  even  yet  to  furnish. 
It  was  always  possible,  under  despotic  governments,  that 
the  capricious  favour  of  a  sovereign  should  raise  to  a  high,  or 
even  to  the  highest  position,  the  lowest  person  in  the  king¬ 
dom.  But  in  Egypt  alone,  of  all  ancient  states,  does  a 
system  seem  to  have  been  established  whereby  persons  of  all 
ranks,  even  the  lowest,  were  invited  to  compete  for  the 
royal  favour,  and,  by  distinguishing  themselves  in  the  public 
schools,  to  establish  a  claim  for  employment  in  the  pub¬ 
lic  service.  That  employment  once  obtained,  their  future 
depended  on  themselves.  Merit  secured  promotion ;  and  it 
would  seem  that  the  efficient  scribe  had  only  to  show  him¬ 
self  superior  to  his  fellows  in  order  to  rise  to  the  highest 
position  but  one  in  the  empire.’  This  is  too  rose-coloured 
a  view,  but  it  has  a  considerable  basis  of  fact.  Maspero 
(chapter  i.)  says,  'There  is  no  sacrifice  which  the  smaller 
folk  deem  too  great  if  it  enables  them  to  give  their  sons  the 
acquirements  which  may  raise  them  above  the  common 
people,  or  at  least  ensure  a  less  miserable  fate.’ 

In  addition  to  the  profession  of  scribe,  there  was  the 
profession  of  architect,  as  distinct  from  builder.  Here, 
again,  I  must  refer  to  what  I  have  already  said  a  few  pages 
back.  The  education  of  the  architect  in  the  Temple  schools 
of  architects  doubtless  embraced  much  sacred  as  well  as 

l  Maspero’s  Ancient  Egypt  and  Assyria ,  p.  11, 


44 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


historical  learning,  a  knowledge  of  writing  and  mathematics, 
and  that  part  of  engineering  which  concerns  itself  with  the 
strength  of  materials  and  practical  dynamics.  The  archi¬ 
tects  were  often  priests,  but  not  necessarily  members  of  that 
order. 

The  profession  of  physician  demanded  all  the  usual 
learning  of  the  upper  class  as  well  as  special  knowledge  of  a 
vast  tradition  of  curative  agencies  with  their  related  magic 
charms  and  incantations.  I  do  not  suppose  it  can  be 
doubted  that  this  knowledge  could  be  obtained  only  at 
great  Temple  centres  where  the  manuscripts  could  be 
read ;  but  it  is  rash  to  conclude  that  there  were  medical 
‘  schools/  It  is  much  more  probable  that  young  men  be¬ 
came  physicians  by  apprenticeship  to  established  prac¬ 
titioners.  Those  who  desired  to  be  fully  accomplished 
had  to  master  the  original  treatises  ascribed  to  Thoth  and 
Imhotpou  with  their  subsequent  interpretations  and  glosses. 

There  were  professional  singers,  as  well  as  dancers, 
musicians,  and  jugglers,  for  all  of  whom  a  certain  training 
must  have  been  provided. 

The  soldiers  lived  on  the  lands  assigned  to  them  and  were 
called  out  for  regular  training  in  military  exercises  and  gym¬ 
nastics.  Generally  speaking,  the  privileges  of  the  army  were 
such  that  the  lower  classes  were  glad  to  belong  to  it.  Music 
also  is  said  to  have  been  taught  in  connection  with  the  army, 
but  it  does  not  follow  that  it  was  taught  to  all  even  of  those 
who  aimed  at  the  position  of  officer.  It  is  more  probable 
that  there  was  a  regimental  band.  The  music  was  of  a 
primitive  and  stereotyped  kind  and  had  descended  from  re¬ 
mote  antiquity.  Plato  in  his  ‘  Laws  ’  (ii.  63,  7)  praises  the 
Egyptian  music  because  it  was  of  a  kind  not  to  soften  the 
manners,  but  grave  and  serious.  It  was  largely  composed  of 
sacred  chants.  At  the  best  period,  education  of  a  general 
kind  was  essential  to  promotion  in  the  army.  There  were 
‘  scribes  ’  of  the  army.  These  educated  officers  were  em¬ 
ployed  in  connection  with  the  engineering  works  of  the 
country. 


THE  HAMITIC  RACES 


45 


The  priesthood  was  the  highest  order  in  the  state,  and 
along  with  the  monarch  governed  Egypt;  the  alliance  of 
state  and  church  seems  to  have  been  in  the  main  harmoni¬ 
ous.  All  the  learning  of  the  Egyptians  was  to  be  found  in 
the  higher  orders  of  the  priesthood,  and  their  education 
embraced  an  elaborate  study  of  ancient  religious  documents, 
a  complicated  ritual  and  ceremonial,  the  various  kinds  of 
script,  ethics,  mathematics,  astronomy,  and  astrology.  The 
royal  family,  and  we  may  presume  the  children  of  court 
dignitaries,  shared  to  a  certain  extent  in  the  education  of  the 
young  priests.  The  priesthood  was  not  till  comparatively 
recent  times  wholly  hereditary,  and  learned  scribes  might 
find  their  way  into  it ;  but  it  is  said  that  the  more  profound 
doctrines  (and  therefore  the  highest  education)  were  reserved 
for  those  who  were  hereditary  priests.1  The  chief  priest  col¬ 
leges  were  situated  at  the  great  cities  of  Memphis,  Thebes, 
and  Heliopolis.  In  these  the  highest  instruction  obtainable 
in  Egypt  was  given.2 

We  have  mentioned  mathematics  as  entering  into  the 
higher  education  of  the  Egyptians ;  but  we  are  not  to 
imagine  that  mathematics  was  with  the  Egyptians  a  science 
in  the  Greek  sense.  It  was  chiefly  practical ;  but  for  that 
very  reason  it  must  have  been  a  study  of  a  countless  number 
of  practical  rules  and  much  more  laborious  than  a  study  of 
rational  principles  which  carry  practical  rules  with  them  as 
deductions. 

Women  of  the  upper  classes  received  a  certain  education 
—  probably  from  private  tutors. 

Let  it  be  noted  that  there  was  no  deliberate  effort  made 
by  state  or  church  to  raise  the  standard  of  intellectual  life 
and  culture  among  the  people  generally.  In  so  far  as  in¬ 
struction  went  beyond  the  acquisition  of  reading  and  writing, 
it  had  always  a  technical  or  professional  purpose  —  except 

1  Clement  of  Alexandria  partially  enumerates  the  books  that  had  to  be 
studied  by  the  Egyptian  priesthood  in  his  time. 

2  I  avoid  using  the  word  ‘University’  and  generally  I  have  exercised 
my  judgment  in  moderating  the  tone  of  some  philo-Egyptians. 


46 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


perhaps  in  the  highest  Temple-schools  of  the  priests.  What 
we  call  ‘  liberal  ’  education  was  not  dreamt  of  even  for  the 
few.  The  idea  of  liberal  education  did  not  exist ;  on  the 
other  hand,  the  course  of  instruction  for  the  higher  priesthood 
comprehended  the  whole  range  of  knowledge  as  then  under¬ 
stood,  and  as  this  was  pursued  for  its  own  sake,  and  in  the 
interests  of  learning,  it  may,  perhaps,  he  called  liberal 
education. 

With  these  facts  before  us,  I  think  we  must  admit  that  it 
was  not  the  want  of  education  which  restricted  the  continued 
advance  of  Egypt,  for  it  had  an  educational  system  as  wide¬ 
spread  and  as  effective,  relatively  to  the  then  state  of  know¬ 
ledge,  as  Europe  had  up  to  the  earlier  decades  of  this  present 
century.  Even  the  masses,  spite  of  the  poverty  and  monoto¬ 
nous  character  of  their  lives,  had  the  means  of  obtaining 
from  some  scribe-pedagogue  the  elements  of  literature.  They 
were,  however,  chiefly  educated  by  the  family  and  national 
tradition,  by  their  training  to  technical  arts,  by  the  laws,  and 
the  festivals  and  ceremonials  of  their  religious  system.  It 
cannot  be  said  that  they  were  educated  by  their  political  con¬ 
stitution  to  anything  but  submission.  Personal  interest  in 
civic  and  political  life,  and  personal  responsibility  for  the 
welfare  of  the  state,  were  things  alien  to  the  Egyptian  as  to 
the  Oriental  mind  generally.  It  was  left  to  Greece  and 
Rome,  to  modern  Europe  and  America,  to  find,  in  a  free  com¬ 
munity  of  political  interests  and  responsibilities,  a  potent 
element  in  the  education  of  individual  citizens  better  than 
many  schools. 

Method  and  Discipline.  —  The  methods  pursued  we 
know  little  of.  That  dictation  was  largely  resorted  to  we 
can  rightly  infer  from  the  school  copies  in  the  British  and 
French  museums,  as  well  as  from  the  necessity  of  devoting  a 
large  portion  of  time  to  learning  the  Egyptian  character. 
The  copies  were  traced  on  wooden  tablets  or  bits  of  stone, 
and  the  pupil  imitated  them  with  a  style  on  wooden  tablets 
covered  with  a  layer  of  red  or  white  stucco.  The  more 
advanced  were  promoted  to  write  extracts  from  good  authors 


THE  HAMITIC  RACES 


47 


on  papyrus,  both  by  transcription  and  from  dictation.  The 
master  corrected  the  exercises  by  putting  the  true  forms  on 
the  margin  wherever  the  pupil  had  made  a  mistake. 

By  giving  passages  to  the  boys  to  copy,  caligraphy  and 
orthography  were  taught,  and  at  the  same  time  the  rudiments 
of  composition.  These  passages  were  sometimes  tales,  and 
extracts  from  religious  or  magical  books.  More  frequently 
the  pupil  had  to  copy  an  ‘  instruction.’  These  ‘  instructions  ’ 
contained  rules  for  wise  conduct  and  good  manners,  ascribed 
mostly  to  Ptah-hetep,  the  ancient  writer  of  moral  precepts. 
The  ‘  instructions  *  were  often  in  the  form  of  letters  between 
tutor  and  pupil,  ‘  in  which  the  former  is  supposed  to  impart 
wisdom  as  well  as  to  form  an  epistolary  style.’  This  accom¬ 
plishment  was  of  great  importance  to  the  scribe,  as  much  of 
the  work  of  public  administration  seems  to  have  been  done 
*  in  writing. 

The  difficulties  of  teaching  must  have  been  great,  and,  as 
we  know,  the  discipline  was  severe.  ‘  The  hawk  is  taught  to 
fly  and  the  pigeon  to  nest ;  I  shall  teach  you  your  letters, 
you  idle  villain  !  ’  is  the  utterance  of  an  irate  Egyptian 
schoolmaster.  There  was  also  a  pedagogic  saying,  ‘  A  young 
fellow  has  a  back ;  he  hears  when  we  strike  it.  ’  A  scholar 
writing  to  his  master,  after  having  left  school,  says  that  ‘  his 
bones  had  been  broken  like  those  of  an  ass.’ 

Egypt  was  so  long  the  land  of  wonder  and  mystery,  that 
there  were  men  who  dreamed  that  its  records  might  yield 
secrets  of  thought  which  might  throw  light  on  many  of  the 
problems  of  life  and  destiny.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  seems 
to  me,  the  race  was  incapable  of  great  exploits  in  the  region 
of  philosophy  and  religion.  Practical  sagacity  and  a  pro¬ 
found  religious  awe  were  curiously  combined  in  them  ;  but 
the  analytic  labour  by  which  alone  truth  yields  itself  to  the 
earnest  pursuit  of  man  was  alien  to  the  Egyptian  mind. 
Their  religion,  moreover,  held  no  idealising  principle :  their 
morality  was  preceptive,  not  reasoned.  Even  their  history 
is  only  bald  registration.  Authority  and  antiquity  governed 


48 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


the  thought  of  each  successive  generation  in  every  depart¬ 
ment  of  human  inquiry.  This  gave  stability  and  continuity 
to  the  kingdom  ;  but  the  stability  was  gained  at  the  cost  of 
true  intellectual  progress.  Hence,  so  far  from  contemplating 
with  astonishment  the  achievements  of  Egypt,  we  are  rather 
filled  with  wonder  that  5,000  years  of  opportunity  produced 
so  little.  It  is  precisely  its  surprising  failures  as  well  as  its 
astonishing  successes,  which  make  Egypt  so  interesting  and 
instructive  a  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  human  race. 

Authorities :  Herodotus ;  Diodorus  Siculus  ;  Ranke’s  History  of  the 
World;  Rawlinson’s  Five  Monarchies  of  the  Ancient  Eastern  World ;  Pro¬ 
fessor  Ebers’  appendices  to  novels ;  Strabo  ;  Maspero’s  Ancient  Egypt  and 
Assyria,  also  bis  Histoire  Ancienne  and  U  Arch eologie  Egyptienne. ;  Brugsch’s 
Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs;  Bunsen’s  Egypt’s  Place  in  History;  Duncker’s 
History  of  Antiquity ;  Dr.  Birch’s  Egypt;  Professor  Sayce’s  Ancient  Empires 
of  the  East  ;  Le  Page  Renouf’s  Hibbert  Lectures  on  Egyptian  Religion  ;  Wil¬ 
kinson’s  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians ;  The  Story  of  the 
Nations  ( ‘  Egypt,’  by  Rawlinson)  ;  Mariette’s  Outlines  of  the  History  of  Egypt, 
by  Miss  Brodrick ;  Professor  Tiele’s  Outlines  of  the  History  of  Religions : 
Records  of  the  Past;  Erman’s  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt ,  translated  by  Tirard  ; 
The  Dawn  of  Civilisation  in  the  East ,  by  Professor  Maspero  ;  The  Booh  of 
the  Dead ,  by  Dr.  Davis;  Professor  Menzies’  History  of  Religion. 

Professor  Flinders  Petrie  has  issued  a  History  of  Egypt,  and  this  will  be 
followed,  I  believe,  by  a  book  on  its  civilisation.  These  will  doubtless  be  the 
authoritative  books  when  they  are  completed.  Meanwhile  I  have  had  to 
form  my  own  conclusions  from  the  evidence  before  me,  the  witnesses  being 
by  no  means  always  in  agreement  with  each  other  or  themselves. 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


A.  —  ARABS  —  BABYLONIANS  —  ASSYRIANS  — PHOENICIANS 

The  Semitic  races  inhabited  that  central  region  of  the  old 
world  which  extends  from  the  Arabian  and  Persian  Gulfs 
and  the  Zagros  Mountains  to  the  Mediterranean  and  the 
Taurus  range.  All  the  nations  named  at  the  head  of  this 
chapter  were  Semitic ;  but,  as  was  the  case  with  every 
other  race  we  encounter  in  historic  times,  they  were  mixed 
with  prior  populations  or  fresh  immigrants.  The  greatest 
of  these  races,  from  the  point  of  view  of  general  culture 
and  art,  were  the  Babylonians,  or,  as  they  are  sometimes 
called,  Chaldseo-Babylonians  :  the  most  warlike  and  ener¬ 
getic  were  the  Assyrians :  among  the  Jews  or  Hebrews, 
again,  the  Oriental  religious  spirit  found  its  highest  and 
purest  expression.  The  Semitic  races  generally  were  like 
the  Egyptians  of  a  serious,  prosaic,  practical,  matter  of  fact 
character.  The  Hebrews  alone  exhibit  a  certain  loftiness 
of  genius,  but  this  within  a  narrow  field.  It  is  this  portion 
of  the  Semitic  race  that  has  influenced  the  education  of  the 
world  and  is  consequently  of  chief  interest  to  us.  But 
before  speaking  of  the  Hebrews,  we  must  advert  for  a 
moment  to  the  Arabs,  and  give  some  attention  to  the  older 
Semitic  communities  which  grew  up  in  the  Mesopotamian 
plains  and  highlands. 


(1)  THE  ARABS 

Owing  to  their  geographical  position  the  Arabs  preserved 
the  Semitic  character  and  blood  in  its  purest  form,  and  their 
religious  beliefs  may  probably  be  regarded  as  the  primitive 
Semitic  religion.  This  religion  was  fetichistic,  and  varied 


52 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


among  different  tribes.  All  worshipped  the  sun  and  moon 
and  certain  constellations,  but  the  god  of  each  of  the  numer¬ 
ous  clans  was  the  chief  object  of  devotion.  He  was  the  cap¬ 
tain  and  master  of  the  clan.  Idolatry  was  of  late  introduction. 
Sacred  stones  and  mountains  were  objects  of  adoration,  es¬ 
pecially  the  Black  Stone  of  the  Kaaba  which  was  at  the 
national  centre,  Mecca.  They  were  essentially  a  nomadic  race, 
but  there  were  settled  kingdoms.  The  most  recent  explora¬ 
tions  speak  of  two  kingdoms  which  probably  in  succession  to 
each  other  extended  their  power,  or  at  least  suzerainty  over 
the  most  of  Arabia,  viz.  Saba  (Sheba)  and  Ma’in.  The 
kingdom  of  Saba  was  flourishing  before  the  time  of  Solomon 
and  there  are  inscriptions  ascribed  to  that  period  showing 
that  writing  was  known.  But  as  we  know  nothing  about  the 
constitution  of  these  kingdoms,  no  materials  exist  for  a  his¬ 
tory  of  education.  Among  the  Arabs  generally,  however, 
there  existed  from  a  very  remote  period  a  considerable  body 
of  poetry  of  a  lyric  kind,  chiefly  warlike  and  elegiac.  These 
were  handed  down  by  rhapsodists  who  recited  them  at 
tribal  meetings.  Tradition  gives  the  name  of  Lokman,  a 
contemporary  of  King  David,  as  that  of  a  celebrated  poet, 
and  ‘  round  his  name/  says  Duncker,  ‘  is  gathered  a  number 
of  proverbs,  gnomes,  and  fables.’  The  oral  poetic  literature 
was,  however,  floating  and  unorganised.  Even  of  the  Arabs 
in  the  century  preceding  the  rise  of  Mahomet,  Ibn  Khallikan 
(who  wrote  his  biographical  dictionary  in  the  thirteenth 
century)  says,  ‘  the  people  consisted  of  Arabs  wholly  igno¬ 
rant  of  the  mode  by  which  learning  is  taught,  of  the  art  of 
composing  works  and  of  the  means  by  which  knowledge  is 
enregistered.’  (Introd.  to  vol.  ii.)  While  this  was  so,  we 
must  still  allow  a  certain  educative  effect  to  the  floating 
unwritten  literature.  In  speaking  of  Oriental  nations,  we 
must  always  remember  that  their  memories  were  facile  and 
retentive  to  an  extent  which  to  the  modern  European  is 
almost  incredible.  When  Mahomet  arose,  for  example,  the 
Koran  was  learnt  by  heart  and  recited,  and  those  who  had 
acquired  this  power  were  held  in  great  respect  as  ‘  Beaders.’ 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


53 


There  can  be  no  doubt  that  writing  (on  palm-leaves,  leather, 
and  stone)  was  known  long  before  the  Christian  era.  The 
writing  introduced  into  Mecca  a.d.  560  was  a  reformed 
script.1 

But  very  few  could  write,  and  even  these  few  seemed  to 
make  little  use  of  it. 

(2)  THE  BABYLONIANS 

The  Babylonians  were  the  primary  centre  of  the  Mesopo¬ 
tamian  culture  and  religion,  they  themselves,  however,  as  we 
shall  see,  resting  on  a  still  earlier  civilisation.  The  true 
greatness  of  Babylon  as  a  city  began  about  the  eighteenth 
century  B.  c. 

It  was  from  the  southern  Chaldaeo-Babylonian  district 
that  the  Assyrians  of  Nineveh  in  the  north  migrated.  It 
was  only  in  the  thirteenth  century  b.  c.  (about  the  time  of 
the  death  of  Moses)  that  the  Assyrians  began  to  extend 
their  power  over  other  races.  In  1100  B.  c.  they  were  the 
acknowledged  masters  north,  south,  and  east  of  Nineveh. 
The  empire  rapidly  grew  in  the  ninth  century  B.  c.,  extend¬ 
ing  even  to  the  Mediterranean.  Nineveh  was  always  more 
warlike  than  the  great  centre  of  culture,  Babylon ; 2  and 
after  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  b.  c.,  the  latter  was 
virtually  in  subjection  to  the  Assyrians.  In  the  middle  of 
the  seventh  century  B.  c.,  the  loosely- jointed  Assyrian  empire 
began  suddenly  to  collapse,  after  it  had  extended  itself  to 
Media  in  the  East  and  Egypt  and  Arabia  on  the  South.  It 
was  an  empire  of  violence ;  but  it  concentrated  in  itself  and 
raised  to  a  historical  world-importance,  as  Ranke  says,  the 
martial  vigour  of  the  Semitic  race.  Nor  were  the  Assyrians 
only  warriors  :  the  ruins  of  Nineveh  to  this  day  testify  to  its 

1  Sir  W.  Muir’s  Life  of  Mahomet,  p.  8.  Caussin  de  Perceval  does  not  deny 
this,  as  Sir  W.  Muir  seems  to  think. 

2  The  revival  of  letters  and  of  the  sciences  and  arts  under  the  Moham¬ 
medan  conquerors  in  the  eighth  and  subsequent  centuries  A.  d.  belongs  to  the 
mediaeval  period.  The  eminent  men  during  this  period  were  probably  not 
genuine  Arabs  at  all. 


54 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


greatness  and  challenge  the  public  works  of  Babylon  and 
Susa.  It  fell  before  the  Medes  (towards  the  end  of  the 
seventh  century)  assisted  by  the  Babylonians,  who  thus 
avenged  their  own  prior  subjection.  It  had  enjoyed  an  im¬ 
perial  existence  of  250  years,  and  was  the  first  conquering 
power  founding  an  empire  which  we  meet  with  in  the  history 
of  the  world. 

Babylon  was  now  the  head  of  all  the  Western  portion  of 
the  former  Assyrian  empire,  but  only  for  a  brief  period.  It 
fell  before  the  Medo-Persians  (also  including  Elamites)  in 
538  b.  c. 

But  though  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  empires  were 
shortlived,  Nineveh,  and  above  all  Babylon,  had  been  for  a 
very  long  period  the  centres  of  Mesopotamian  civilisation. 
They  had  attained  to  political  constitutions,  religious  sys¬ 
tems,  and  laws,  and  to  the  highest  degree  of  material  wealth. 
We  may  date  the  importance  of  Nineveh  as  a  civilised  centre 
and  a  rising  military  power  from  1400  B.  c. ;  but  Babylon 
and  the  civilisation  of  the  Babylonian  and  Chaldsean  country 
(the  southern  portion  of  Mesopotamia)  have  a  much  more 
ancient  record.1 

The  Babylonian  culture,  in  all  its  forms,  rested  on  that  of 
the  early  occupants  of  the  alluvial  plains  between  the  two 
rivers  —  known  as  Accadians  or  Sumir-Accadians.2 

The  Accadians  had,  it  is  commonly  held,  come  from  the 
plains  south  of  the  Caspian  Sea  and  entered  the  southern 
Mesopotamian  valley  probably  through  Elam  east  of  the 
Tigris.  After  they  had  developed  a  certain  civilisation  here, 
the  wandering  Semites  took  possession  and  were  amalgamated 
with  the  resident  population  —  entering  probably  about 
2200  B.  c.  Tiele  (‘  Die  Assyriologie,  eine  Bede  ’)  says  that 

1  As  a  help  in  taking  a  chronological  and  comparative  view,  it  is  of  im¬ 
portance  to  note  that  Solomon,  who  raised  the  power  of  the  Israelites  to  its 
highest  point,  died  in  975  b.  c.,  and  that  the  date  of  the  foundation  of  Rome 
was  753  b.  c. 

2  The  most  recent  information  points  to  inhabitants  of  a  Cushite  type 
prior  to  the  Accadians. 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


55 


the  Semitic  civilisation  in  the  Mesopotamian  plains  cannot 
be  put  further  back  than  2000  B.  c.,  but  we  know  that  the 
Accadian  civilisation,  including  religion  and  science,  was 
developed  long  before  that  date.  It  would  not  now,  indeed, 
be  considered  an  exaggeration  to  date  the  beginnings  of 
Sumir-Accadian  civilisation  in  the  lower  Mesopotamian 
basin  from  nearly  4000  B.  c.1 

The  Accadian  religion  was  animistic  and  fetichistic. 
There  was  an  organised  priesthood  and  temples.  They 
believed  in  multitudinous  demons,  good  and  evil,  between 
whom  there  was  continual  warfare.  But  this  contest  had 
no  ethical  significance.  Their  priesthood,  however  (at  least 
after  a  certain  date),  believed  in  a  supreme  God  among 
the  gods.  The  practice  of  magic  and  incantations,  worked 
out  into  the  most  elaborate  detail,  flourished.  Evil  spirits 
had  to  be  conciliated,  and  these  were  everywhere.  But  this 
relation  to  unseen  powers  had  among  the  Accadians  no 
moral  meaning.  As  regards  a  future  life,  it  was  held  that 
the  spirits  of  the  dead  lived  an  unhappy  and  dreary  exist¬ 
ence  for  ever  in  a  gloomy  Hades  —  a  world  of  shadows  — 
the  underworld  ;  subsequently,  it  was  taught  that  the  gods 
received  into  pleasant  regions  all  who  served  them  well 
during  life.  The  ethical  importance  of  this  advance  is 
manifest. 

A  Semitic  race,  which  seems  to  have  entered  the  northern 
portions  of  the  Mesopotamian  basin,  amalgamated  with 
this  primitive  Accadian  people,  and  the  combined  people 
are  thereafter  known  to  history  as  Babylonians  or  Chal- 
dseans.  Gradually  the  religious  conceptions  to  which  we 
have  referred  above,  reached  a  still  higher  development 
under  the  influence,  one  would  be  disposed  to  say,  of  the 
specifically  Semitic  spirit.  The  nature-beings  became  gods, 
truly  governing  the  natural  order ;  and  the  study  of  astron- 

1  I  follow  the  leading  authorities.  Maspero  is  much  less  confident  than 
many  other  writers,  and  would  consider  the  above  statement  much  too  definite, 
and  in  fact  the  most  recent  explorations  show  that  the  history  prior  to  2200 
B.  c.  has  to  he  reconstructed. 


56 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


omy  and  mathematics,  by  exalting  men’s  minds,  gave  to 
the  supreme  deities  a  more  relined  and  elevated  character. 
Above  all  the  numerous  gods,  one  was  now  placed  whose 
commands  were  absolute  —  the  Lord  of  Lords.  Without 
throwing  off  the  magic  and  augury  and  elaborate  system  of 
incantations  which  they  had  adopted,  they  (i.  e.  the  more  ad¬ 
vanced  priesthood)  exhibited  in  their  worship  ‘  a  vivid  sense 
of  sin,  a  deep  feeling  of  man’s  dependence,  even  of  his  noth¬ 
ingness  before  God,  in  prayers  and  hymns  hardly  less  fervent 
than  those  of  the  pious  souls  of  Israel’  (Tiele).  As  evidence 
of  this  we  may  here  cite  an  extract  from  one  of  the  peniten¬ 
tial  psalms,  merely  premising  that  at  the  time  it  was  written 
there  had  grown  up  a  belief  that  each  individual  soul  had  his 
god  —  a  belief  which  would  easily  be  universalised  and  pass 
into  that  of  a  one  God  who  was  truly  the  god  of  all  human 
spirits  alike.  The  sense  of  a  personal  relation  between  God 
and  the  human  soul,  so  characteristic  of  the  Semitic  race,  here 
makes  its  appearance  (but  in  a  particular,  not  a  universal 
form),  and  suggests  that  the  remains  we  now  have  of  this 
purer  religion  did  not  date  prior  to  the  amalgamation  of 
Semitic  immigrants,  or,  indeed,  prior  to  2000  years  B.c. 

From  a  Penitential  Psalm. 

The  heart  of  my  Lord  was  wrath,  to  his  place  may  he  return ; 

From  the  man  who  sinned  unknowingly,  to  his  place  may  my 
God  return  ! 

And  so  on,  frequently  repeated  in  slightly  altered  forms; 
then  : 

The  transgression  that  I  committed,  my  God  knew  it. 

••••••• 

Oh,  my  God,  that  knowest  that  I  knew  not,  my  transgressions 
are  great,  my  sins  are  many. 

•  •••••# 

God,  who  knew  though  I  knew  not,  hath  passed  me. 

•  •  •  •  •  •  • 

I  lay  on  the  ground,  and  no  one  seized  me  by  the  hand. 

I  wept  and  my  palms  none  took. 


THE  SEMITIC  FACES  57 

And  so  forth.  This  is  evidently  part  of  a  liturgy,  as  appears 
from  rubrical  directions.1 

The  following  Address  to  the  Sun  illustrates  the  stage  of 
poetical  culture  which  the  higher  type  of  Chaldseo-Baby Ionian 
mind  had  reached : 

‘  0  Sun !  thou  hast  stepped  forth  from  the  background  of 
heaven,  thou  hast  pushed  back  the  bolts  of  the  brilliant 
heaven  —  yea,  the  gate  of  heaven.  0  Sun !  above  the  land 
thou  hast  raised  thy  head !  0  Sun !  thou  hast  covered  the 

immeasurable  space  of  heaven  and  countries  !  ’ 

There  are  also  many  passages  of  poetic  vigour  in  the  Epic 
of  Izdhubar. 

The  Chaldaean  priesthood,  which  was  partly  hereditary, 
partly  selected,  conserved  and  developed  the  religious  system 
which  we  may  call  Accadian-Semitic,  and  maintained  the 
ceremonies  of  the  temples.  They  handed  down  the  tra¬ 
ditions  of  the  race  and  had  an  oral  as  well  as  a  written 
literature,  which  embodied  their  philosophy  of  life  and 
poetic  conceptions. 

Education. — All  the  arts  of  life  that  minister  to  com¬ 
fort  and  luxury  attained  great  perfection :  the  Babylonian 
architecture  was  conceived  and  executed  with  a  certain 
vastness  of  imagination,  and  their  canals  and  embankments 
showed  great  engineering  skill.  All  this  implies  a  highly 
developed  technical  instruction.  Of  education,  however,  in 
any  literary  sense,  or  even  of  the  ethical  education  of  the 
family,  there  can  have  been  little  or  none.  This  must  always 
chiefly  depend  on  the  religious  and  ethical  conceptions  of  a 
nation  as  a  whole,  and  not  of  a  restricted  order  in  a  nation. 
At  the  same  time  the  people  as  a  whole  can,  especially  under 
a  despotic  political  system,  be  sustained  at  a  certain  level  by 
the  convictions  of  the  few.  But,  where  the  religion  in  its 
popular  form  was  a  crude  polydsemonism  accompanied  by 
magic  and  incantation  and  the  worship  of  arbitrary  spirits 
good  and  evil,  the  people  could  receive  no  education  from  a 
spiritual  ideal  of  life.  Marriage  was  set  about  with  great 

1  From  Records  of  the  Past. 


58 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


formality  and  regarded  as  a  social  act  of  great  importance ; 
but  the  husband  was  not  restricted  to  one  wife.  Although 
the  wife  in  the  middle  and  lower  orders  had  great  liberty  of 
action  allowed  her,  her  life  was  not  much  better  than  that  of 
a  slave.  It  was  impossible,  accordingly,  that  domestic  rela¬ 
tions  could  furnish  any  moral  basis  for  the  family.  Nor 
could  citizens  who  had  no  political  status  receive  education 
from  the  working  of  political  institutions.  Doubtless,  had 
the  later  religious  conceptions,  to  which  I  have  referred 
above,  been  the  possession  of  the  people  and  not  merely 
of  a  class,  their  educative  influence  might  have  moulded  the 
Mesopotamian  civilisation  to  a  much  higher  form  than  it 
ever  attained ;  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  this  was  so. 

Education  of  the  upper  classes.  —  The  education  of 
the  few,  on  the  other  hand,  was  by  no  means  despicable.  As 
time  advanced,  the  higher  minds  held  monotheistic  views, 
the  numerous  gods  being  regarded  as  merely  aspects  of  the 
supreme  divine  Being.  In  the  course  of  time,  the  gods  were 
resolved,  under  the  influence  of  a  speculative  philosophy,  into 
elements  and  abstractions ;  and  a  cosmogony  arose  like  that 
given  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  with  this  important  dif¬ 
ference,  however,  that  the  universe  was  regarded  as  a  series 
of  emanations  from  the  Supreme  Being.  This  speculative 
view  passed  even  into  Ionic  Greece  and  neo-Platonism. 
Charms,  amulets,  sorcery,  divination,  incantations,  all  con¬ 
tinued,  however,  to  flourish  side  by  side  with  these  higher 
ideas,  and  the  conception  of  man’s  life  as  haunted  by  devilish 
spirits  (a  survival  apparently  of  the  older  Accadian  religion), 
who  had  to  be  driven  off  or  appeased,  had  not  been  super¬ 
seded  even  among  the  priesthood. 

The  literature  which  constituted  the  material  of  education 
for  the  higher  orders  was  extensive.  Every  great  town  had 
its  library  on  brick  tablets,  which  were  thrown  open  to  the 
public  (Sayce).  A  great  astronomical  work,  compiled  for 
Sargon’s  library  at  Agade,  is  said  to  be  of  the  early  date  of 
3800  B.  c.  ‘  There  were  historical  and  mythological  writings, 
religious  compositions,  legal,  geographical,  astronomical,  and 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


59 


astrological  treatises ;  magical  formulae  and  omen  tablets ; 
poems,  fables,  and  proverbs ;  grammatical  and  lexical  dis¬ 
quisitions,  beside  archives 5  (Sayce,  p.  170).  There  were 
state  observatories  in  the  chief  towns  and  astronomers-royal 
were  appointed  who  had  ‘  to  send  fortnightly  reports  to  the 
king.’  The  knowledge  of  arithmetic,  mathematics,  and  me¬ 
chanics  also  had  made  considerable  progress,  but  only  on 
the  practical,  not  the  scientific,  side.  We  have  to  add 
the  great  Epic  of  Izdhubar,  which  belonged  to  the  domain  of 
literature.1 

The  interest  of  the  Chaldseans  in  astronomy  was  not 
strictly  scientific.  They  made  numerous  observations  and 
had  constructed  many  astronomical  tables,  but  this  not  so 
much  with  a  view  to  a  knowledge  of  the  heavens  as  to  astro¬ 
logy.  The  position  of  the  heavenly  bodies  indicated  earthly 
destinies,  and  to  foretell  these  was  the  function  of  the  Chal- 
dsean  priest.  Diodorus  tells  us  (ii.  29)  that  the  sons  of  the 
priestly  class  were  carefully  instructed  from  boyhood  up, 
and  this,  indeed,  was  necessary  to  their  acquisition  of  the 
detailed  learning  required  of  them.  Astronomy  and  as¬ 
trology  alone  demanded  persevering  study.  Medicine  was 
not  a  subject  of  serious  pursuit.  As  diseases  were  caused  by 
evil  spirits,  the  medical  art  in  Chaldaea  confined  itself  to 

1  It  was  Shargena  or  Sargon  I.  who  (coming  from  the  north  or  north-east 
had  conquered  the  Babylonian  territories)  flourished  somewhere  about  2200 
b.  c.,  to  whom  the  institution  or  revival  of  libraries  was  due.  A  royal  library 
was  collected  by  him  in  the  town  of  Ourouk,  hence  sometimes  called  the  Town 
of  Books,  and  the  library  contained  the  traditionary  lore  of  the  Chaldseo- 
Babylonian  priesthood,  among  which  were  histories,  theology,  elaborate  trea¬ 
tises  on  divination  and  magic,  catalogues  of  beasts  and  minerals,  medicine 
(incantations  chiefly,  accompanied  by  a  materia  medica),  astronomy,  astrology, 
and  mathematics.  Nor  was  this  the  only  library  ;  there  were  several  in  the 
Babylonian  territory.  Sargon  was  himself  a  modern,  and  the  literature  he 
collected  was  the  accumulation  of  probably  2000  years.  There  was  another 
Shargena  I.,  3800  B.  c.,  who  seems  to  be  legendary  (?).  About  B.  C.  628  Assur. 
bani-pal,  king  of  Assyria,  had  bilingual  copies  of  the  Babylonian  library  made 
and  placed  them  in  Nineveh,  and  a  considerable  portion  are  now  in  the  Brit¬ 
ish  Museum.  The  authorities  for  the  above  quotations  are  numerous,  but  see 
Maspero’s  Histoire  Ancienne,  pp.  157-9.  But  doubtless  all  that  has  been  said 
of  the  first  Shargena  or  Sargon  requires  reconsideration. 


60 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


the  invention  of  magical  formulae  which  should  exorcise 
the  demons. 

The  higher  education  was  not  confined  to  the  priestly 
class  (which,  however,  was  itself  a  large  and  powerful  body), 
hut  extended  to  the  body  of  scribes.  These  men  were  not 
held  in  such  high  social  estimation  as  in  Egypt.  The  work- 
ins  of  the  local  and  central  administration  was,  however, 

o 

largely  in  their  hands.  ‘  We  continually  meet  with  them  in 
all  grades  of  society,  in  the  palace,  in  the  temples,  in  the 
storehouses,  in  private  dwellings.  In  fine,  the  scribe  was 
ubiquitous  at  court,  in  the  town,  in  the  country,  in  the  army, 
managing  affairs  both  small  and  great,  and  seeing  that  they 
were  carried  on  efficiently.  His  education  differed  but  little 
from  that  given  to  the  Egyptian  scribe ;  he  learned  the  rou¬ 
tine  of  administrative  and  judicial  affairs,  the  formularies  of 
correspondence  either  with  nobles  or  with  ordinary  people, 
the  art  of  writing,  of  calculating  quickly  and  making  out 
bills  correctly.’1  They  wrote  on  slabs  of  fine  plastic  clay 
with  a  stylus  and  then  sent  it  to  the  potter  to  be  baked  or 
put  it  into  an  oven  of  their  own.  Besides  these  clay  tablets, 
they  sometimes  used  hollow  cylinders  on  which  they  wrote 
public  events  of  importance.  Forms  of  judicial  decisions 
and  business  contracts  &c.  are  found  written  on  these.  The 
writing  was  originally  ideographic  as  in  Egypt.  It  is  to  the 
indestructible  character  of  these  baked  tablets  and  cylinders 
that  we  owe  what  knowledge  we  have  of  those  remote  times. 

Nor  was  the  education  confined  even  to  priests  and  scribes. 
Many  of  the  upper  classes  shared  in  it  to  a  certain  extent, 
while  the  public  libraries  afforded  the  means  of  study  to  all 
who  had  ambition  to  learn.  That  a  portion  of  the  upper 
classes  received  instruction  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Among 
Oriental  races  generally  we  find  that  young  men,  not  of  the 
priestly  order,  were  brought  up  in  the  royal  court  for  the 
service  of  the  country ;  and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that 
Nebuchadnezzar’s  instructions  as  regards  the  Jewish  children 
were  only  the  continuation  of  an  ancient  Babylonian  prac- 

1  Maspero,  Dawn  of  Civilisation ,  p.  726. 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


61 


tice.  In  the  first  chapter  of  Daniel  the  prophet,  it  is 
narrated : 

‘  And  the  king  spake  unto  Ashpenaz,  the  master  of  his 
eunuchs,  that  he  should  bring  certain  of  the  children  of 
Israel,  and  of  the  king’s  seed,  and  of  the  princes  ;  children  in 
whom  was  no  blemish,  but  well  favoured,  and  skilful  in  all 
wisdom,  and  cunning  in  knowledge,  and  understanding  science, 
and  such  as  had  ability  in  them,  to  stand  in  the  king’s  palace, 
and  whom  they  might  teach  the  learning  and  the  tongue  of 
the  Chaldeans.  And  the  king  appointed  them  a  daily  pro¬ 
vision  of  the  king’s  meat,  and  of  the  wine  which  he  drank : 
so  nourishing  them  three  years,  that  at  the  end  thereof  they 
might  stand  before  the  king.  Now  among  these  were,  of  the 
children  of  Judah,  Daniel,  Hananiah,  Mishael,  and  Azariah.’ 

It  is  difficult,  indeed,  to  see  how  the  government  of  any 
civilised  country  could  have  been  carried  on  without  a  lay 
royal  school  as  well  as  priestly  and  scribe  schools.  The 
palace  school  of  Charlemagne  in  the  eighth  century  was  thus 
a  much  more  ancient  institution  than  he  himself  imagined. 
We  may  also  conclude  generally  that,  in  a  country  which 
erected  monuments  with  inscriptions  for  all  to  read,  not  a 
few  of  the  population  could  read  and  write,  outside  the 
priesthood,  the  scribes,  and  the  royal  court. 

Of  the  schools  and  teachers  we  know  nothing.  Tablets 
have  been  found  in  Babylon  on  which  school-exercises  are 
written.  Where  learning  and  teaching  existed  there  must, 
of  course,  have  been  teachers,  and  we  may  conclude  that 
pedagogues  (priests  and  scribes)  were  numerous,  who  pro¬ 
bably  gave  individual,  not  class,  instruction.  Priest  and 
scribe  would,  of  course,  be  careful  to  instruct  their  own  chil¬ 
dren  who  were,  after  the  Oriental  fashion,  to  succeed  them  in 
their  public  functions. 

(3)  THE  ASSYRIANS 

The  Chalckeo-Babylonian  priesthood  had  attained  to  the  idea 
of  one  supreme  God.  The  Assyrians  accepted  the  religion 
of  the  race,  but  emphasised  the  persmal  character  of  the 


62 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


supreme  God  under  the  name  of  Asshur.  As  was  natural 
in  a  warlike  people,  they  recognised  the  military  leadership 
and  command  of  the  God  —  the  ‘  God  of  battles,’  who  was 
also  king  and  father.  The  people  as  a  whole  were  victims 
of  a  debased  superstition ;  religious,  however,  in  the  sense  in 
which  they  understood  religion. 

But  for  our  purposes  here  there  is  nothing  to  be  said 
which  has  not  already  been  said  of  the  Babylonians,  except 
that,  as  befitted  men  living  in  a  more  elevated  country,  the 
Assyrians  exhibited  many  of  the  virtues  of  a  vigorous  and 
conquering  people.  Hunting  was  a  favourite  amusement ; 
the  chase  of  the  lion,  buffalo,  gazelle,  horse,  and  wild  ass. 
The  Babylonian  love  of  magnificence  in  architecture,  sculp¬ 
ture,  and  decoration  was  even  exceeded  in  Nineveh,  and  the 
Assyrians  were  famous  for  the  art  with  which  they  adorned 
their  palaces  and  temples.  Their  technical  and  military 
education  must  have  been  highly  developed ;  but  education 
of  the  higher  kind  was  restricted  to  the  priesthood,  the  royal 
court,  and  to  the  scribes.  It  was  Chaldaeo-Babylonian  in  its 
character. 

The  priesthood  seems  to  have  inherited  those  conceptions 
regarding  the  personal  relation  of  the  soul  of  man  to  a,  or 
the,  divine  Being  which  we  have  found  among  the  Baby¬ 
lonians.  I  may  cite,  in  illustration  and  evidence  of  this,  the 
hymn  quoted  in  ‘  Records  of  the  Past  ’  by  Mr.  Talbot. 

Oh,  my  Lord,  my  sins  are  many,  my  trespasses  are  great, 

And  the  wrath  of  the  gods  has  plagued  me  with  disease 

And  with  sickness  and  sorrow. 

I  fainted,  but  no  one  stretched  forth  his  hand ; 

I  groaned,  but  no  one  drew  nigh. 

I  cried  aloud,  but  no  one  heard. 

0  Lord,  do  not  abandon  thy  servant. 

In  the  waters  of  the  great  storm  seize  his  hand, 

The  sins  which  he  has  committed  turn  thou  to  righteousness. 

The  Assyrians,  however,  paid  a  tribute  to  learning  in 
having,  like  the  Egyptians,  a  ‘  god  of  letters.’  It  was  to 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


63 


an  Assyrian  monarch  also  (Assur-bani-pal)  (p.  59,  footnote) 
that  we  owe  the  preservation  of  a  great  portion  of  Babylonian 
literature.  He  had  copies  of  the  Babylonian  brick  tablets 
made,  both  the  Accadian  text  and  a  parallel  Assyrian  trans¬ 
lation  being  given.  These  were  placed  in  the  great  library  at 
Nineveh.  In  that  library  also  were  preserved  numerous  gov¬ 
ernment  despatches,  letters,  astronomical  and  astrological 
treatises,  and  tables  giving  an  account  of  the  law,  of  legal 
decisions,  contracts  of  sale,  records  of  tributes  and  taxes,  &c. 

So  far  as  national  religion,  literature,  and  the  arts  were 
concerned,  there  is  no  apparent  reason  why  education  should 
not  have  been  as  accessible  and  widely  diffused  in  Babylonia 
and  Assyria  as  in  Egypt.  But  when  we  read  of  the  constant 
wars,  we  can  see  how  it  was  that  certain  forms  of  civilisation 
which  could  grow  up  and  flourish  in  an  isolated  land  like  the 
Nile  valley,  did  not  take  root  in  a  country  so  disturbed  as  the 
Mesopotamian  basin. 

(4)  THE  PHOENICIANS 

The  narrow  coast-line  between  Lebanon  and  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean  (little  more  than  120  miles  long  and  15  broad),  was 
occupied  by  Semites  famous  in  history  for  their  commercial 
enterprise.  Tyre  and  Sidon  were  the  two  chief  cities. 

The  Phoenician  government  was  a  monarchy  tempered  by 
an  oligarchy  of  wealth,  the  king  being  apparently  only  first 
among  a  body  of  ruling  merchant  princes.  When  the  mon¬ 
archy  disappeared,  the  chief  magistrate  was  called  ‘  judge,’ 
and  he  held  office  for  shorter  or  longer  periods. 

With  the  Phoenicians  we  find  material  aims  and  luxurious 
living  similar  to  those  which  marked  the  Assyrians  and 
Babylonians,  but  in  a  grosser  form.  The  former  owed  their 
wealth  to  trade,  the  latter  found  the  basis  of  their  material 
civilisation  in  the  fertile  alluvial  tracts  of  the  Euphrates  and 
Tigris  and  in  the  well  irrigated  northern  parts  of  the  Meso¬ 
potamian  basin.  Phoenicia  was  the  gate  of  communication 
between  Europe  and  the  Orient.  With  Phoenicia  is  associated 
the  invention  of  symbols  for  numbers  and  the  elements  of 


64 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


sound  in  words;  but  these  seem  originally  to  have  been 
drawn  from  Egypt  where  there  was  a  large  Phoenician  set¬ 
tlement.  The  necessities  as  well  as  the  opportunities  of  com¬ 
merce  would  naturally  lead  to  the  adoption  and  development 
of  what  was  derived  from  Egypt,  with  a  view  to  facilitate 
communication  with  foreign  nations.  Their  buildings,  their 
harbours  and  ships,  and  the  works  of  art  which  they  pro¬ 
duced,  all  point  to  a  high  efficiency  in  their  technical  instruc¬ 
tion.  They  were  manufacturers,  merchants,  and  colonisers. 
But  commerce  and  money-making  seem  to  have  engrossed 
their  minds,  and  there  is  no  evidence  of  any  moral  idea  in 
their  civilisation.1 

And  yet  Phoenicia,  as  intermediary  between  East  and 
West,  played  an  important  part  in  the  history  of  civilisation ; 
but  only  as  intermediaries.  Greek  art  owed  its  early  Assyrian 
character  to  it,  and  to  it  also  the  Greeks  were  indebted  for 
the  alphabet  and  for  many  Oriental  elements  in  their  religion 
and  mythology.  But  it  would  have  been  better  without 
them.  On  the  Israelites  their  influence  was  even  more 
marked.  The  Temple  at  Jerusalem  was  built  by  Phoenician 
artists  and  workmen.  They  were  also  the  founders  of  Car¬ 
thage,  which  contested  the  sovereignty  of  the  Mediterranean 
with  the  rising  power  of  Rome.  Both  as  artists  and  crafts¬ 
men  they  originally  borrowed  from  others  ;  but  they  improved 
on  their  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  masters. 

Their  chief  gods  were  the  sun  and  moon.  But  they  de¬ 
graded  what  they  received  of  the  spiritual  element  from  the 
Mesopotamian  priesthood,  more  than  they  improved  on  the 
arts  which  they  received  from  them  and  the  Egyptians. 
They  were  an  impure  and  cruel  people.  They  sought  to 
win  the  favour  of  Heaven  by  lascivious  practices  on  festal 
occasions.  Destitute  of  literature,  if  we  except  historical 
archives,  and  destitute  also  of  an  initiating  or  progressive 
spirit  in  art,  they  were  lost  in  a  sensual  materialism. 

If  it  be  true,  as  I  think  it  is,  that  genuine  progress  in  civ- 

1  For  a  brilliant  description  of  the  wealth  and  occupations  of  the  Phoeni¬ 
cians,  see  Ezekiel  xxvii.  and  xxviii. 


TEE  SEMITIC  RACES 


65 


ilisation  is  determined  by  the  ethical  and  religious  conceptions 
of  a  nation,  we  can  understand  that  Phoenicia  has  little  to 
teach  us  save  by  way  of  warning.  Enterprising  on  the  sea 
and  highly  intelligent  they  certainly  were.  But  for  all  else 
they  cannot  arrest  the  attention  of  the  historian. 

B.  —  THE  HEBREWS  OR  JEWS 

Of  the  Semitic  races  by  far  the  most  famous  was  the  Hebrew 
which  emigrated  from  the  west  side  of  the  Euphrates  to 
Canaan  or  Palestine  about  2000  B.c.  Their  centre  of  origin 
was  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  where  the  Abraliamic  religion  is 
understood  to  have  arisen.  Whether  dissatisfaction  with  the 
mixed  character  of  the  Chaldseo-Babylonian  religion  insti¬ 
gated  the  migration  or  not  it  is  impossible  to  say.1 

The  history  of  this  remarkable  people,  however,  properly 
dates  from  the  emigration  from  Egypt  under  Moses  about 
1490  B.  c.2  After  a  period  of  wandering  and  many  petty 
wars,  in  which  they  exhibited  no  small  violence  and  cruelty, 
the  land  acquired  on  the  east  and  west  side  of  Jordan  was 
divided  among  the  twelve  tribes.  The  tribe  of  Levi,  how¬ 
ever,  which  represented  the  sacerdotal  class,  was  scattered 
throughout  the  country  —  the  object  of  this  being,  it  may 
be  presumed,  the  maintenance  of  religious  life  and  historical 
tradition  among  the  people.  For,  Jewish  history  begins  and 
ends  with  a  great  historical  deliverance  and  an  exalted 
religious  idea. 

‘  It  was  the  aim  of  Moses,’  says  Banke,  ‘  that  the  idea  by 
the  power  of  which  he  had  led  them  out  of  Egypt  should 
continue  to  form  the  central  point  of  their  spiritual  and 
political  life.  Moses  is  the  most  exalted  figure  in  all  primi¬ 
tive  history.  The  thought  of  God  as  an  intellectual  Being 
independent  of  all  material  existence  was  seized  by  him 
and,  so  to  speak,  incorporated  in  the  nation  which  he  led. 
Not  that  the  nation  and  the  idea  were  simply  co-extensive  ; 
the  idea  of  the  most  High  God  as  He  revealed  Himself  on 

1  The  name  Jew  is  strictly  applicable  only  to  the  Hebrews  of  Judsea. 

2  The  date  assigned  varies  from  the  above  to  1320. 

5 


66 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Horeb  is  one  for  all  times  and  all  nations :  —  an  idea  of  a 
pure  and  infinite  Being,  which  admits  of  no  limitation,  but 
which  nevertheless  inspires  every  decree  of  the  legislator, 
every  undertaking  of  the  captain  of  the  host.’ 

The  religion  of  the  Hebrews  was  Abrahamic :  and  by 
this  I  mean  that  it  was  an  outgrowth  of  certain  Chaldsean 
religious  conceptions  brought  from  Ur  by  the  nomadic  tribe 
of  which  Terah,  the  father  of  Abraham,  was  the  chief.  But 
when  we  have  granted  this,  we  must  recognise  that  a  fresh  de¬ 
parture  was  made  under  Moses.  It  matters  not  to  us  what  the 
date  of  the  various  books  of  the  Pentateuch  may  have  been : 
there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt,  it  seems  to  me,  that  the 
Mosaic  tradition  was  preserved  by  a  priesthood,  although 
this  priesthood  was  not  fully  organised  till  the  time  of  David. 
The  tradition  took  its  departure  from  the  idea  of  God  and 
the  Law  as  delivered  by  the  new  founder  of  the  nation  ; 
and  amid  all  the  narrowness  and  the  aberrations  of  tribes 
and  parties,  the  tradition  survived,  and  grew  by  logical  de¬ 
velopment  till  it  reached  its  full  expression  in  the  prophets 
—  from  Amos  in  the  eighth  century  B.c.  till  after  the  Exile. 
Moses  was  a  remarkable  man,  and  of  a  transcendent  person¬ 
ality  ;  for,  cognisant  as  he  was  of  the  religion  of  Egypt,  he 
was  yet  able  in  his  spiritual  strength  to  set  it  aside,  and  to 
bring  a  nation  to  the  foot  of  Sinai.  Neither  Osiris,  nor  Isis, 
nor  Ptah,  nor  Ammon,  was  allowed  to  influence,  much  less 
to  dominate,  his  religious  thought.  God  was  One  —  the  sole 
creator  of  heaven  and  earth, —  ultimate  Being.  The  powers 
of  nature,  and  animals  and  men,  were  His  work,  and  could 
not  be  deified.  He  was  a  Spirit,  and  had  to  be  worshipped 
as  a  spirit,  and  in  spirit.  But  above  all,  He  was  a  God 
supremely  ethical,  and  demanded  of  men  the  service  of 
obedience  to  the  moral  law.  It  is  impossible  to  exaggerate 
the  importance  of  this  thought  in  the  history  of  mankind. 
It  furnished  a  fresh  point  of  departure  for  the  whole  human 
race.  Moses  was  the  greatest  of  schoolmasters.  Strange  to 
say,  though  familiar  in  Egypt  with  the  idea  of  life  after 
death,  he  does  not  embody  this  idea  in  his  teaching. 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


67 


Where  the  ark  of  God  was,  there  too  was  the  centre  of 
Jewish  faith  and  ritual.  It  was  a  golden-plated  chest  which 
was  said  to  contain  (and  why  should  it  not  contain  ?)  the 
Mosaic  tables  of  stone ;  but  there  were  necessarily,  especially 
in  pre-Davidic  times,  many  local  altars  and  open-air  sanctu¬ 
aries —  ‘worship  of  the  high  places  and  under  green  trees’ 
(by  which  is  meant  worship  of  stones  or  monoliths  placed  on 
eminences  and  symbolic  of  Baal  and  frequently  also  the  trunk 
of  a  tree  as  representing  the  female  deity)  —  where  vows  were 
made  and  sacrifices  offered ;  and  these  for  the  most  part,  of 
an  idolatrous  kind.  Round  the  central  sanctuary,  however, 
whether  at  Shiloh  or  afterwards  at  Jerusalem,  the  best  tradi¬ 
tion  gathered,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  sufficient  reason  to 
doubt  that  it  was  orally  handed  down  by  the  priesthood 
before  writing  was  common.  The  ark  along  with  the  Taber¬ 
nacle  (subsequently  represented  by  the  Holy  of  Holies  in  the 
Temple  at  Jerusalem)  was  the  centre  of  national  unity,  as 
well  as  of  the  national  faith,  in  a  much  more  real  sense  than 
Delphi  was  the  centre  of  Hellenic  unity.  That  writing  was 
used  much  earlier  than  the  ‘  higher  criticism  ’  admits  is  so 
highly  probable  as  to  be  almost  certain.  Why  should  we 
imagine  that  the  art  of  writing  universal  in  Egypt  and  Baby¬ 
lon  was  forgotten,  especially  when  the  Jews  were  in  constant 
intercourse  with  surrounding  nations  who  all  possessed  the 
art  ? 

For  two  or  three  centuries,  the  Hebrews  held  their  own  as 
what  might  be  called  a  loosely  federated  tribal  republic  (with 
industries  which  were  chiefly  pastoral)  under  the  occasional 
guidance  of  local  chiefs  or  judges,  some  of  whom  received 
national,  and  not  merely  tribal,  recognition,  and  the  last  and 
greatest  of  whom  was  the  prophet  Samuel.  It  became  neces¬ 
sary  to  organise  themselves  as  a  monarchy  in  order  to  defend 
their  country  against  their  enemies.  Saul,  the  Benjamite, 
was  chosen  1095  B.c.  and  David  succeeded  him  in  1055  b.c. 
The  incessant  attacks  of  the  Philistines  were  doing  much, 
while  making  a  monarchy  essential,  to  weld  the  Jewish 
tribes  into  the  unity  of  a  nation,  and  the  national  idea  natu- 


68 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


rally  led  David  to  organise  the  Priesthood.  Under  the  long 
reign  of  David’s  magnificent  successor  Solomon,  the  Hebrews 
reached  their  highest  eminence  as  a  secular  polity,  and  ex¬ 
tended  their  dominions  to  the  Euphrates  and  the  Red  Sea. 
After  his  death  differences,  partly  political,  partly  religious, 
brought  about  a  civil  war,  led  on  the  one  side  by  Rehoboam, 
Solomon’s  son,  and  on  the  other  by  Jeroboam.  The  former 
party  represented  the  interests  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  in  the 
south,  while  the  latter  represented  Ephraim  in  the  north. 
Many  of  the  original  tribes,  it  is  necessary  to  note,  had  by 
this  time  become  amalgamated  with  the  more  powerful  ones, 
and  were  largely  mixed  with  Canaanitish  elements.  The 
issue  of  this  strife  was  two  kingdoms  —  the  southern,  that  of 
Judah  (including  Benjamin)  with  its  capital  Jerusalem,  and 
the  northern,  Israel,  with  its  capital  Samaria. 

This  internal  dissension  led  ultimately  to  the  overthrow  of 
both  kingdoms.  First  of  all,  the  Israelites  of  the  north,  at¬ 
tacked  by  the  Assyrians,  were  subdued  and  carried  off  and 
planted  in  Media,  Assyrian  colonists  taking  their  place  (720 
B.c.).  The  Israelites  of  the  northern  kingdom,  thus  crushed 
by  the  Assyrian  king,  are  spoken  of  as  the  ‘  lost  ten  tribes/ 
Those  who  remained  (the  larger  number  of  the  commonalty), 
became  mixed  with  immigrants,  and  in  their  religious  life 
seem  to  have  differed  little,  for  a  time  at  least,  from  that  of 
other  Semitic  races  round  about,  being  especially  influenced 
by  Canaanite  conceptions.  They  ultimately  organised  a 
Mosaic  religion  of  their  own  based  on  the  Law,  but  they 
seem  to  have  ignored  the  prophets. 

The  centre  of  Hebrew  nationality  was  now  Judah, 
Jerusalem,  and  the  Temple  —  the  symbolic  centre  of  the 
Hebrew  faith ;  there  the  true  Mosaic  tradition  was  pre¬ 
served.  But  Judah  did  not  for  long  escape  the  misfor¬ 
tunes  of  her  northern  brethren.  The  Babylonian  king, 
Nebuchadnezzar,  took  Jerusalem,  burned  the  Temple,  and 
carried  off  the  leading  inhabitants  to  Babylon  (588  B.c.). 
Cyrus  gave  the  Jews  permission  to  return  (538),  but  only 
the  lower  section  of  the  people  and  the  priests  and  scribes 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


69 


took  advantage  of  the  permission.  The  Temple  was  rebuilt 
516  B.c.  and  the  priesthood  began  to  reconstitute  the  doc¬ 
trine  and  practice  of  the  law.  But  it  was  not  till  the  second 
migration  from  Babylon  under  Ezra  (458  B.c.),  who  was  soon 
followed  by  Neherniah,  that  the  Mosaic  tradition  became 
fully  formulated  and  an  elaborate  ritual  constituted. 

The  monarchy  now  gave  way  to  the  rule  of  the  hereditary 
priesthood.  The  real  government  of  the  Jews,  accordingly, 
was  now  in  the  hands  of  a  senate  of  priests,  scribes,  and 
elders  called  the  Great  Synagogue,1  which  as  time  went  on 
took  more  and  more  definite  shape,  and  developed  into  the 
famous  Sanhedrin.  The  form  of  government  was  a  natural 
development  of  the  governing  idea  of  the  Hebrew  race,  which 
was  a  strictly  religious  idea. 

It  is  a  question  whether  any  portion  of  the  Pentateuchal 
books  was  committed  to  writing  before  the  time  of  Josiah 
(640  B.c.),  and  certain  critics  maintain  that  the  Law  as  a 
whole  was  written  under  the  direction  of  Ezra  and  ETehe- 
miah.  I  think  we  may  safely  conclude  that  the  Law  could 
not  have  been  invented  and  suddenly  sprung  upon  the 
people.  Its  root  ideas  had  been  orally  handed  down  from 
Moses,  and  doubtless  grew  and  expanded,  partly  as  oral 
tradition,  partly  as  written  documents,  as  generations  suc¬ 
ceeded  each  other  until  the  time  of  the  Exile. 

The  written  as  well  as  the  oral  law  was  now  enforced, 
and  the  beginning  laid  of  an  organised  system  of  legal 
formalism  and  of  ecclesiastical  ceremonial  which  in  the 
course  of  time  became  oppressive.  All  religious  ideas 
when  reduced  to  a  system  by  an  official  body  have  a  ten¬ 
dency  to  become  formal  and  external.  The  formulation, 
however,  preserves  the  substance  of  the  living  doctrine  ;  and 
so  we  find  in  the  case  of  the  Jews.  The  legal  and  cere¬ 
monial  system  was  not  only  conservative  of  past  history 
and  religious  tradition,  but  it  secured  the  unity  of  the  Jewish 
race,  and  made  that  unity  independent  of  a  political  nation¬ 
ality.  The  Jews  long  before  the  Christian  era  were  an 

1  Probably  not  formally  organised  under  this  name. 


70 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


emigrating  people  and  were  dispersed  over  the  cities  of  the 
East  and  of  the  Mediterranean.1  The  body  of  doctrine 
and  ritual  sustained  them  in  their  existence  among  the 
nations  as  a  ‘  peculiar  people.’ 

Mosaism  and  the  Priesthood,  Prophets,  and  Scribes, 
as  educational  forces.  — Whatever  other  gods  might  have 
been  worshipped  by  the  Hebrews  at  local  altars  (cliigh 
places  and  under  green  trees  ’ )  during  the  nomadic,  and 
even  during  the  more  settled  agricultural  period  after  Samuel 
(and  these  gods  were  various,  and  increased  in  number  under 
the  influence  of  neighbouring  and  immigrant  populations), 
they  yet,  as  a  nation,  preserved  a  distinctive  religious  belief 
and  character  which  marked  them  off  from  other  branches 
of  the  Semites.  From  the  time  of  Moses  they  had  unques¬ 
tionably  a  theology  and  a  law.  Deep  in  the  traditional  life  of 
the  people,  though  often  doubtless  confined  in  its  outward 
manifestations  to  the  conservative  priestly  order  or  the  reform¬ 
ing  prophets,  was  the  idea  of  Jahveh  —  Sole  God.  Hot  merely 
a  God  above  other  gods  within  the  nation  (for  within  the 
nation  he  was  alone  God  and  a  'jealous’  God),  but  above  all 
gods  recognised  among  the  superstitious  and  idolatrous 
cotemporary  peoples.  This  God  was  One  and  Sole  —  Being 
universal  and  yet  personal  —  ‘  I  am  that  I  am  ’ ;  and  he  was 
a  God  moreover  of  ethical  attributes,  comprehending  in  Him¬ 
self  the  idea  of  moral  law  and  proclaiming  the  duty  of  the 
believer  to  the  law.  The  Infinite  God  was  thus  in  'personal 
relation  to  man  as  a  moral  finite  being ;  —  and,  accordingly, 
we  may  say  with  truth  that  it  was  among  the  Jews  that  God 
first  began  to  dwell  with  man.  To  Moses  and  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  his  teaching  the  world  owes,  not  perhaps  the  idea 
of  God  as  One  and  Sole  Supreme  Spirit  (for  the  Zoroastrians 
independently  attained  to  this),  but  the  more  practical  con- 
v  ception  of  God  as  a  self-subsistent  moral  personality  in 

1  Alexander  the  Great  and  one  of  his  generals  who  became  king  of  Egypt 
carried  off  many  to  people  Alexandria  Cyrene  ;  and  these  spread  through 
Egypt  and  along  the  northern  coast  of  Africa. 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


71 


direct  relation  with  the  finite  spirit  of  the  rational  creature. 
For  this  and  the  sublime  expression  of  exalted  spirituality 
which  by  natural  development  arose  out  of  it,  the  world 
owes  a  permanent  debt  to  the  Hebrews.  They  had  little 
art  and  no  science.  The  energy  of  the  race  was  concentrated 
on  a  great  central  thought  and  its  logical  issues ;  and  with 
this  remarkable  result,  that  the  pure  literature  contained  in 
the  Old  Testament  is  as  true  an  expression  of  the  relation 
of  the  devout  soul  to  God  to-day  as  it  was  2500  years  ago: 
and,  as  such,  it  can  never  be  superseded.  The  Mosaic  idea 
was  a  protest  against  idolatry  and  nature-worship  on  the 
one  hand,  and  Pantheism  on  the  other.  To  trace  the  grad¬ 
ual  growth  of  the  primary  Mosaic  conception  is  not  our 
business.  Enough,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  education 
of  the  human  race  and  specially  of  the  Jews  themselves,  that 
at  the  date  of  the  canon  of  Ezra  we  not  only  have  the  final 
formulation  of  the  priestly  tradition  of  the  Law,  but,  above 
all,  the  completed  spiritual  interpretation  of  the  prophets. 

The  priesthood  in  the  earlier  times  discharged  the  public 
function  of  sacrificing  (I  say  ‘  public  ’  because  private  offer¬ 
ings  and  sacrifices  were  common  among  the  Israelites, 
as  among  all  nations,  and  did  not  require  the  official  pres¬ 
ence  of  a  priest).  It  is  not  to  be  alleged  against  them,  as 
in  any  way  detracting  from  the  sacredness  of  their  office, 
as  intermediaries  for  the  ascertainment  of  the  will  of 
Jahveh,  that  they  shared  the  belief  in  magic  and  incanta¬ 
tions  common  to  all  races  of  mankind,  and  that,  by  lending 
themselves  to  the  interpretation  of  dreams  and  the  prediction 
of  events,  they  often  prostituted  their  true  function.  Perhaps 
the  most  important  characteristic  of  the  priesthood  as  educator 
of  the  nation,  was  its  relation  to  civil  affairs.  The  priests  gave 
advice  to  the  people,  they  issued  judicial  decisions  on  questions 
brought  before  them,  and  gave  shelter  against  oppression. 
The  unwritten  Law  (Torah)  was  gradually  built  up  by  them. 
I  am  here  summarising  their  functions,  while  of  course 
recognising  to  the  full  its  irregular  action  and  gradual  devel¬ 
opment.  ‘They  shall  teach  Jacob  thy  judgments  and  Israel 


72 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


tliy  Law’  (Deut.  xxxiii.  10)  may  have  been  written  down, 
for  all  I  know,  on  parchment  for  the  first  time  in  the  days 
of  Josiah  or  Ezra,  but  it  was  an  ex  post  facto  writing.  Mr. 
Montefiore  quotes  from  Professor  Stade  as  follows:  ‘No  one 
in  old  Israel  was  more  capable  of  protecting  the  unfortunate 
from  oppression,  of  punishing  the  injustice  of  the  mighty, 
and  thus  of  strengthening  the  moral  conscience,  softening- 
public  manners,  and  educating  society,  than  the  priests.  .  .  . 
Their  importance  for  the  development  of  religion,  justice, 
and  public  morality  cannot  be  too  highly  estimated.’  That 
their  full  organisation  did  not  take  place  till  the  time  of 
David  does  not  affect  the  truth  of  this.  Thus  the  close  connec¬ 
tion  between  religion,  morality,  and  civil  polity  gave  a  posi¬ 
tion  of  power  to  the  priesthood  much  greater  than  that  found 
among  other  nations.  At  the  same  time  it  saved  the  priest¬ 
hood  from  exclusive  and  esoteric  beliefs,  and  from  the  proud 
isolation  of  a  class.  Civil  law  and  social  practices  were  mere 
n/  deductions  from  the  Divine  law.  The  banal  distinction  be¬ 
tween  sacred  and  secular,  from  which  modern  Europe  suffers, 
did  not  exist.  The  Levites  were  ministers  to  the  Aaronic 
priests,  but  could  not  themselves  perform  the  highest  functions. 

In  the  Mosaic  idea  of  God  we  have  the  Semitic  mind  on 
its  highest  plane  of  religious  possibility ;  however  restricted 
by  national  limits  that  God  might  be,  it  was  still  an  ever- 
potent  educative  force  of  a  progressive  kind.  And  we  are 
not  surprised  to  find  that,  ere  long,  the  higher  minds  of  the 
nation  began  to  recognise  its  full  significance.  The  masses 
of  the  people  accepted  Jahveh  as  a  great  self-subsistent 
moral  being  with  whom  they  had  a  covenant  of  works  very 
much  of  the  nature  of  a  business  contract.  He  was  doubt¬ 
less  to  the  people,  till  post-exilic  times,  a  mere  God  of  the 
Hebrews  whose  seat  was  Sinai,  and  the  worship  of  Him 
did  not  preclude  the  worship  of  other  gods.  But  the  more 
thoughtful  spirits  evolved  out  of  the  whole  a  nobler  and  freer 
spiritual  life  than  any  mere  official  priesthood  could  have 
conceived.  These  men  were  called  the  prophets ;  they  began 
to  prophesy  a  purely  spiritual  faith  as  early  as  the  eighth 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


73 


century  B.  c.,  although  we  are  justified  in  holding  that  from 
Samuel  downwards  the  larger  conceptions  were  steadily 
growing,  though  probably  confined  to  a  restricted  class. 
The  prophets,  until  post-exilic  times,  represent  in  their 
teaching  the  highest  education  —  an  education  which,  in  its 
highest  as  in  its  lowest  form,  was  always  religious.  They 
maintained  the  idea  of  Jahveh  in  all  its  purity.  They  did 
not  disdain  the  ritual  and  ceremonials  of  the  Law,  hut  they 
represented  the  spirit  and  not  the  mere  outward  form  of 
Hebraism,  and  were  distinguished  by  profound  thought,  theo¬ 
logical  and  ethical.  They  thus  exercised  a  powerful  influence 
on  the  life  and  polity  of  the  Jews,  recalling  princes  and  peo¬ 
ple  alike  to  the  worship  of  the  true  God,  and  that  ‘  in  spirit 
and  in  truth.’  They  held,  even  more  than  the  priestly  order, 
the  principles  of  the  theocratic  constitution  of  society,  but  in 
a  broader  and  more  liberal  sense.  The  gradually  increasing 
psalter  was  meanwhile  giving  lyrical  expression  to  intense  re¬ 
ligious  emotion,  and  supporting  the  high  prophetic  teaching. 

During  this  prophetic  period  down  to  the  Exile,  the 
class  of  scribes  ( bookmen  is  the  translation  of  the  Hebrew), 
mostly,  doubtless,  belonging  to  the  priestly,  or  at  least  Leviti- 
cal,  order,  were  growing  in  importance.  Priests  and  scribes 
do  not  seem,  however,  to  have  been  strictly  differentiated 
till  after  the  Exile.  The  chief  function  of  the  former  was 
the  Temple  services,  of  the  latter  the  preservation  and 
teaching  of  the  Law.  Temple  and  Law,  it  has  been  said, 
imply  priest  and  scribe.  The  scribe  always  comprised  many 
members  of  the  priest  class,  but  the  function  was  one 
which  was  during  the  prophetic  period,  no  less  than  in  the 
post-exilic,  open  to  laymen  as  in  Egypt.  Their  precise  func¬ 
tion  before  the  exile  is  not  ascertained ;  but  we  may  infer 
from  the  word  itself  and  from  the  early  traditional  influence 
of  Egypt,  that  they  were  engaged  in  such  transcriptions  of 
sacred  and  historical  literature  as  were  required.1  They  also 

1  J  have  read  much,  merely  as  a  layman  desirous  to  get  at  the  truth  as 
regards  the  Israelites,  and  it  appears  to  me  that  to  the  historian  it  matters 
little  whether  the  Hexateuch  was  formulated  after  the  Captivity  or  not.  In 


74 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


acted  as  notaries  among  the  people.  After  the  exile,  how¬ 
ever,  and  the  cessation  of  the  Great  Synagogue,  those  who 
followed  this  function  were  the  recognised  Masters  of  the 
‘  law  and  the  prophets  ’  and  continuators  of  tradition.  They 
thus  constituted  a  learned  and  progressive  lay  order  of  stu¬ 
dents  and  teachers,  apart  from,  but  not  necessarily  in  opposi¬ 
tion  to,  the  sacrificial  priesthood.  I  write  of  these  things  in 
general  terms  because  I  cannot  find  that  there  is  a  consensus 

O 

of  opinion  as  to  the  details  of  the  organisation  of  priest  and 
scribe  and  their  mutual  relations  after  the  Exile.  The  fact  of 
the  rise  of  the  scribes  to  importance  as  an  academic  class  is 
enough  for  the  purposes  of  a  student  of  education.1 

We  thus  find  among  the  Jews  three  classes  of  men,  all  of 
whom  were  engaged  in  the  preservation  and  gradual  develop- 

countries  like  Egypt,  where  the  people  had  a  mania  for  recording  all  contem¬ 
porary  events  on  stone  or  papyrus,  oral  tradition  was  superseded ;  but  in  the 
rise  of  other  civilisations  we  find  that  the  handing  down  orally  of  sacred  doc¬ 
trines  with  their  ever-growing  accretions,  wras  common.  Even  in  post-exilic 
times  we  find  this  practice  in  Judaea  when  writing  might  have  been  alone 
resorted  to.  It  is  only  ignorance  of  the  origins  of  the  religious  scriptures  of 
other  nations  which  would  make  us  doubt  the  possibility  of  the  substantial 
truth  of  a  Jewish  pre-exilic  tradition  of  the  Law.  The  formulation  may  have 
begun  in  the  reign  of  Josiah,  say  about  630  b.  c.,  and  have  been  completed  by 
Ezra ;  but  it  was  the  formulation  of  what  already  existed  and  had  been  pre¬ 
served  by  the  priesthood,  partly  at  least  in  writing.  No  one,  I  suppose,  asserts 
that  all  the  details  of  the  ceremonial  law  are  Mosaic.  It  is  enough  that  we 
recognise  a  growth  out  of  a  central  idea  and  see  the  fruitful  beginnings  of  the 
Law  carried  out  by  the  priesthood,  and  illuminated  by  the  prophets,  and  at  a 
certain  date  (post-exilic)  taking  systematic  written  form.  This  is  the  com¬ 
mon  history  of  national  religions  ;  and  I  do  not  see  why  we  should  be  so 
unhistorical,  and  therefore  so  unscientific,  as  to  treat  the  organised  Jewish 
system  very  much  as  if  it  were  an  invention  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  In  the 
case  of  a  tradition  chiefly  oral  and  only  partly  written  and  wholly  edited 
with  a  purpose,  one  would  expect  composite  books.  Of  course,  I  cannot  speak 
as  an  expert,  but  the  ‘  intelligent  layman  ’  has  his  rights.  I  would,  in  this 
connection,  direct  special  attention  to  Professor  Robertson's  Early  Religion  oj 
Israel . 

1  With  scribes  on  one  side  of  them  in  Egypt,  and  on  the  other  in  Babylon 
and  Assyria,  it  is  surely  quite  in  accordance  with  recognised  historical  prin¬ 
ciples  to  regard  the  scribe  organisation  after  the  Exile  as  merely  a  develop¬ 
ment  of  an  order  which  had  existed  in  some  form  or  other  from  the  time  o! 
Samuel  at  least. 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


75 


ment  of  the  Mosaic  monotheism,  the  Sinaitic  moral  law 1  and 
the  civil  law  based  on  it.  The  literature  of  the  country, 
lyrical,  historical,  and  theological,  all  gathered  round  the  one 
central  thought  of  Jaliveh.  The  ‘  masses’  were  continually 
falling  into  idolatry  and  forgetting  the  best  tradition  of  their 
fathers ;  but  under  the  influence  of  the  ‘  classes,’  of  whom  we 
have  been  speaking,  the  great  tradition  was  always  living 
and  gradually  developing  (especially  from  800  B.  c.  onwards) 
from  a  tribal  religion  with  its  tribal  god  who,  though  supreme, 
admitted  of  the  worship  of  other  gods,  into  a  religion  of 
genuine  monotheism  and  of  universal  characteristics.  The 
God  of  the  J ews,  as  conceived  by  the  prophets  and  psalmists, 
a  God  of  justice,  truth,  and  compassion,  might  indeed  have 
become  the  recognised  God  of  the  whole  earth  but  for  the 
over-elaboration  of  religious  observances  and  legal  technical¬ 
ities  by  the  post-exilic  scribes. 

The  tribe  of  Semites  out  of  whom  came  Genesis,  the  Book 
of  Job,  the  Psalms,  the  eloquent  utterances  of  the  Prophets, 
the  Proverbs,  and  the  post-exilic  Book  of  Wisdom,  stands 
apart  from  all  other  ancient  races,  and  was  manifestly  des¬ 
tined  for  a  special  mission  to  the  world.  When  we  bear  in 
mind  too,  the  concentrated  intensity  of  the  Jewish  personal 
character,  and  of  their  family  life,  we  see  in  the  very  narrow¬ 
ness  which  accompanied  that  intensity,  the  possibility  of 
going  far.  The  ‘  I  am  that  I  am  ’  of  Moses,  whether  promul¬ 
gated  in  these  abstract  terms  by  him  or  not,  and,  though  to 
the  masses  for  centuries  little  more  than  a  tribal  God,  as 
was  the  case  with  the  primitive  gods  of  all  nations,  was  yet  a 
spiritual  God  who  brooked  no  equal.  The  idea  had  a  power¬ 
ful  formative  influence  ;  and  this  all  the  more  because  it  was 
possible  for  the  primary  conception  to  be  identified  in  the 
course  of  time  with  an  Universal  Unseen  self-conscious  Spirit. 
Moreover,  this  God  Jahveh,  as  I  have  pointed  out,  was  not 


1  I  am  quite  well  aware  that  the  Decalogue,  as  we  have  it,  is  ascribed  to 
the  reign  of  Josiah  ;  but  I  cannot  but  conclude  that  the  elements  of  the  Deca¬ 
logue  were  contained  in  the  Law  imposed  by  Moses.  Much  of  it  may  be 
found  in  the  Egyptian  religion  (Confession  before  Osiris). 


76 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


only  a  spiritual  but  an  ethical  Being,  concerned  in  the  moral 
order  and  having  personal  relations  to  all  His  creatures.  It 
is  true  that  the  observances  of  thanksgiving  and  sacrifice  and 
of  formal  obedience  to  the  law  which  this  God  demanded  of 
all  had  very  much  the  air  of  a  business  contract,  as  I  have 
indicated  above,  in  which  each  side  was  expected  to  fulfil  his 
respective  obligations ;  but  none  the  less  was  the  idea  moral¬ 
ising,  and  itself  sufficient  to  educate  a  primitive  race,  while  in 
the  hands  of  the  prophets  it  expanded  into  a  pure  spiritualism. 
And  are  we  not  sane  historians  when  we  add  that,  whatever 
might  be  the  defections  of  the  Israelites,  however  gradual  their 
religious  growth,  what  may  be  called  the  Mosaic  idea  of 
Jahveh  must  have  contained  the  germ  of  such  possibilities, 
and,  consequently,  have  been  from  the  first  a  God  unlike  the 
other  gods  of  the  Canaanites  ? 

EDUCATION  OF  THE  YOUNG  AMONG  THE  JEWS  GENERALLY 

If  we  take  a  general,  and  at  the  same  time,  it  is  to  be 
admitted,  a  somewhat  ideal,  view  of  the  education  of  the 
Jewish  race,  we  shall  find  its  beginnings  and  its  specific 
character  expressed  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  Deuteronomy :  — 

‘  Hear,  O  Israel :  The  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord :  And 
thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine  heart,  and 
with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  might.  And  these  words, 
which  I  command  thee  this  day,  shall  be  in  thine  heart:  and 
thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently  unto  thy  children,  and  shalt 
talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in  thine  house,  and  when 
thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and  when  thou  liest  down,  and 
when  thou  rises t  up.’ 

The  father  and  mother  were  thus  the  divinely  appointed 
teachers.  As  has  been  said,  ‘  The  dwellings  of  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob  were  at  once  house,  school,  state,  and 
church.’  The  family  life  was  intense,  and  the  more  so  that 
the  Law  thus  directly  addressed  parents  and  placed  on  them 
the  responsibility  for  the  moral  and  spiritual  well-being  of 
their  children.  To  the  Jews  more  than  to  any  other  race  we 
may  apply  the  words  of  Shakespeare : 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


77 


Let  never  clay  nor  night  unhallowed  pass, 

But  still  remember  what  the  Lord  hatli  done. 

2  Henry  VI.  ii. 

As  might  be  expected,  respect  for  parents  and  elders  was 
rigidly  enforced. 

Thou  shalt  honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother,  &c. 

Thou  shalt  rise  up  before  the  hoary  head. 

The  family  bond,  so  potent  among  the  Jews,  embraced 
God  Himself,  demanding,  as  Father  of  the  race,  implicit 
obedience  from  His  children. 

If  we  may  infer  from  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon  that  max¬ 
ims  and  reflections  such  as  are  collected  in  that  book  were 
in  general  currency,  we  may  further  conclude  that  the 
domestic  education  was  powerfully  reinforced  by  traditions 
of  practical  wisdom.  The  Book  of  Ruth  also  could  have 
emanated  only  from  a  people  sensitive  to  the  finer  and  more 
spiritual  significance  of  domestic  relations,  while  the  post- 
exilic  Book  of  Wisdom  gives  us  a  religious  philosophy  of 
life.  Accordingly,  we  may  say  that  a  present  God,  whom  to 
fear  was  ‘  the  beginning  of  wisdom,’  the  honouring  of  par¬ 
ents  and  elders,  a  sacred  family  life,  the  memory  of  a  great 
history,  the  practical  wisdom  of  proverbs,  and  a  gradually 
growing  lyric  psalmody,  constituted  the  elements  of  the 
education  of  the  masses  down  to  the  time  of  the  Exile. 
‘  My  son,  hear  the  instruction  of  thy  father,  and  forsake  not 
the  law  of  thy  mother  ’  (Prov.  i.  7).  Ho  special  public 
means,  however,  were  taken  by  the  Jews  any  more  than  by 
other  nations  to  give  education  to  the  people,  so  that  the 
fundamental  conception  of  the  ecpiality  of  all  before  God,  a 
thoroughly  Jewish  idea,  remained  a  barren  conception  so  far 
as  organised  action  to  raise  all  to  a  certain  level  of  intelli¬ 
gence  and  moral  life  was  concerned.  In  post-exilic  times  it 
was  otherwise. 

Such,  speaking  generally ,  were  the  life  and  education  of 
the  Jewish  people ;  but  to  understand  them  more  fully  we 


78 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


must  look  at  them  in  their  historical  development.  The 
domestic  tradition  varied,  and,  as  generation  succeeded  gen¬ 
eration,  grew  richer  and  fuller.  It  is  true  that  among  the 
Jews,  as  among  all  other  nations  in  pre-christian  times,  the 
culture  of  the  period,  whatever  it  might  be,  was  confined  to 
the  upper  classes  of  priest,  scribe,  prophet,  and  the  lay  aris¬ 
tocracy.  On  the  other  hand,  every  nation,  as  a  whole ,  lives 
in  a  certain  atmosphere  of  religion  and  morality,  and  all 
participate,  in  part  at  least,  in  the  life  and  thought  of  the 
more  educated.  All  are  borne  along  in  the  main  current. 
I  think  we  may  say  that  this  was  the  case  among  the  Jews 
more  than  in  any  other  ancient  nation.  Their  literature  was 
of  a  grave,  thoughtful,  and  earnest  type,  and  it  might  be 
said  that  it  was  above  the  understanding  of  the  mass;  hut 
none  the  less  was  it  the  expression  of  the  true  life  and  char¬ 
acter  of  the  people,  permanent  and  enduring  amidst  all  their 
deviations  from  the  path  pointed  out  to  them  by  Moses  and 
the  prophets. 

In  truth,  from  Moses  downwards  even  to  this  day,  the 
central  religious  conception  of  the  Jewish  mind  was  the 
great  educative  force,  both  in  its  early  rudimentary,  and 
later  universalised,  form.  But  in  the  case  of  a  people  which 
had  so  long  a  history  and  encountered  such  varying  fortunes, 
it  is  necessary  to  look  at  their  education  as  it  existed  at  dif¬ 
ferent  periods  of  their  civilisation. 

EPOCHS  OF  JEWISH  EDUCATION 

We  may  distinguish  four  epochs  of  Jewish  education. 

The  First  Period 

The  first  period  extends  from  the  emigration  from  Egypt 
down  to  Samuel  and  Saul.  Samuel  died  1043  B.c.  During 
this  period  the  Hebrews  were  still  largely  a  pastoral  and 
wandering  race,  and  were  fighting  for  the  conservation  of 
such  permanent  settlements  as  they  had  made.  The  differ¬ 
ent  tribes  were  very  loosely  connected.  The  centre  of  the 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


79 


Mosaic  teaching  was  to  be  found  with  the  ark  and  the  Tab¬ 
ernacle,  which  were  in  the  keeping  of  the  Aaronic  priestly 
family.  Local  altars  were  erected  by  the  people  in  various 
places  and  sacrifices  offered,  not  always  to  Jahveh  alone ;  for 
in  very  many  cases  the  tribes  had  lapsed  into  idolatries. 
And  yet  in  the  domestic  teaching  of  the  rising  generation  the 
Mosaic  ideas  of  “  God  and  Lord  ”  could  not  have  been  any¬ 
where  wholly  lost.  The  effect  of  this  tradition  in  moulding 
the  character  of  the  Hebrews  must  have  been  great.  The 
existence  and  recognition  of  leaders  or  tribal  captains,  under 
the  name  of  judges,  in  whose  hands  lay  the  application  to 
the  ordinary  affairs  of  life  of  the  Mosaic  teaching,  concurred 
with  the  one  central  Tabernacle  and  its  priesthood  to  main¬ 
tain  a  certain  unity  of  belief  and  life,  spite  of  constant  lapses 
into  idolatries.  The  movement  favoured  by  Samuel  which 
led  to  the  anointing  of  a  king  is  itself  evidence  that  notwith¬ 
standing  many  backslidings,  the  national  unity,  as  consti¬ 
tuted  by  the  idea  of  Jahveh,  was  profoundly  felt.  The 
education  of  the  people  by  this  idea  was  going  on.  National 
songs  were  handed  down  along  with  the  national  history  and 
religious  festivals.  Writing  in  the  form  of  inscriptions  on 
stone  was  known,  and  writing,  it  is  said  also,  on  parchment 
or  paper ;  but  this  only  as  the  accomplishment  of  a  few. 

Even  the  education  of  the  priesthood  must  have  been 
entirely  confined  to  preserving  and  extending  the  Mosaic 
tradition.  We  must  remember,  however,  that  in  the  case  of 
the  Jews  this  tradition,  as  I  have  shown,  meant  a  great  deal. 
For  the  religious  and  civil  polity  were  not  dissociated. 
Morality,  civil  law,  and  religion  were  one ;  and  these,  too, 
were  bound  up  with  a  great  history.  We  find  during  this 
period  the  existence  of  what  survived  even  after  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  the  Jewish  nationality  —  the  interweaving  of  religious 
feeling  with  the  moral  law  and  the  civil  law.  The  distribu¬ 
tion  of  the  Levites  among  the  tribes  must  have  helped  to 
maintain  the  tradition  of  the  law  among  the  whole  body  of 
the  people.  Some  learned  Jews  who  write  on  the  education 
of  their  race  would  claim  a  knowledge  of  mathematics,  geog- 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


80 

raphy,  and  history  for  the  Levitic  scribes  during  this  early 
period.  But  there  is  no  evidence  of  this. 

The  Second  Period 

The  second  period  extends  from  Samuel  till  538  B.c.  —  the 
return  from  the  Babylonian  Captivity.  The  Hebrews  had 
now  become  an  agricultural,  as  well  as  pastoral,  people,  liv¬ 
ing  for  the  most  part  in  villages  and  cities,  from  which  they 
went  out  to  their  daily  work.  They  were  consequently  in 
closer  communication  with  each  other.  But  as  regards  the 
mass  of  the  people  there  is  not  yet  evidence  of  any  instruc¬ 
tion  save  that  which  oral  tradition  afforded.  Sacrifices  at 
local  altars  (though  often  taking  the  form  of  idolatrous  ser¬ 
vices)  doubtless  helped  to  maintain  this.  Boys  accompanied 
their  fathers  to  their  daily  labour  at  the  field  or  workshop, 
girls  were  trained  at  home  in  domestic  arts,  cooking,  weav¬ 
ing,  and  the  making  of  garments.  Music,  dancing,  and  song 
were  practised,  and  there  can  he  no  reasonable  doubt  that 
during  this  period  many  of  the  psalms  were  composed,  and 
influenced,  while  expressing,  the  life  of  a  considerable  portion 
at  least  among  the  population.  The  erection  of  the  Temple, 
to  which  all  citizens  were  required  to  repair  at  certain  periods, 
helped  to  give  unity  to  religious  belief,  and  intensify  the 
national  feeling. 

Education  of  the  higher  section  of  Society.  —  The 

priesthood,  as  the  depositary  of  the  growing  historical  and 
judicial  literature,  was  daily  extending  the  moral  and  civil 
law  which  was  studied  as  part  of  its  function,  while  scribes 
(generally  Levites,  if  not  priests  of  the  higher  order)  seem  to 
have  been  employed  to  make  transcriptions.  The  scribes 
also  acquired  a  certain  knowledge  of  the  law  and  acted  as 
notaries  among  the  people  and  helpers  in  the  adjusting  of  diffi¬ 
culties.  (For  the  early  existence  of  scribes,  vide  Joshua 
xviii.  9.) 

But  the  most  interesting  fact  during  this  period  was  the 
rise  of  the  prophets,  who  are  mentioned  as  early  as  Samuel. 
There  can  be  little  doubt,  I  think,  that  these  bands  of  men 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


81 


had,  to  begin  with,  a  very  loose  organisation,  and  might  be 
regarded  as  religious  revivalists  —  many  of  them  wild,  un¬ 
educated,  and  fanatical.  But  from  among  them  came  the 
greatest  Jewish  intellects.  From  the  eighth  century  to  the 
fifth  century  B.C.  we  have  such  of  their  writings  as  have  sur¬ 
vived,  and  they  constitute  a  permanent  part  of  world-litera¬ 
ture.  The  prophets  were,  as  I  have  already  said,  cpiite 
outside  thg  ceremonial  priesthood,  and  as  a  body  they  had 
for  their  aim  the  maintenance  and  purifying  of  the  idea  of 
Jahveh  in  its  monotheistic  and  ethical  sense.  Their  text 
was,  *  I  desire  mercy  and  not  sacrifice,  and  the  knowledge  of 
God  more  than  burnt  offerings/  That  there  were  fortune¬ 
tellers  and  hypocrites  among  those  who  assumed  the  name  is 
not  to  be  doubted ;  that  most  of  them  believed  in  divination 
and  magic,  is  only  to  say  that  they  belonged  to  their  own 
period  of  world-history ;  that  many  of  them  used  their  sup¬ 
posed  magical  powers  for  their  own  pecuniary  profit  is  only 
to  say  that  they  were  men.  Take  them  as  a  whole,  however, 
the  formative  principle  which  entered  into  this  new  organisa¬ 
tion  was  a  spiritual  one.  They  generally  lived  in  community, 
and  tradition  says  that  they  occupied  rude  huts  of  their  own 
erection,  and  wore  a  characteristic  dress.  Confraternities 
(sometimes  called  schools)  arose  in  connection  with  this  move¬ 
ment  ;  we  find  them  (though  not  as  contemporary  institu¬ 
tions)  at  Gibea,  Rama,  Bethel,  Jericho,  and  Gilgal.1  Let  us 
specially  note  that  the  students  in  these  schools  were  not  nec¬ 
essarily  Levites.  Prophets  were  essentially  a  lay  order,  and 
it  may  almost  be  said  that  they  stood  to  the  religious  and 
social  life  of  the  time  very  much  in  the  relation  in  which 
some  of  the  monastic  orders  stood  to  European  society  in  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries.  These  prophets  and  ‘  sons  of 
the  prophets  ’  as  (the  aspirants  were  called)  constituted  (ac¬ 
cording  to  Rabbinical  tradition)  colleges  numbering  from 
fifty  to  four  hundred  which  were  somewhat  of  the  nature  of 

1  I  follow  in  all  this  the  Jewish  tradition.  ‘  The  higher  criticism  ’  rejects 
mnch  of  what  I  say.  In  the  pages  that  precede  there  is  nothing  inconsistent 
with  the  best  results  of  the  ‘  higher  criticism.’ 

6 


82 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


theological  institutions,  and  were  presided  over  by  a  senior 
member  formally  elected.  Music  and  sacred  poetry  were 
studied  as  well  as  the  profounder  aspects  of  theology.  Out 
of  these  ‘  schools/  or  at  least  out  of  this  class,  came  the 
national  poets  and  historians.  As  preachers,  the  prophets 
promulgated  the  righteous  government  of  the  world  ;  they 
inculcated  morals  and  taught  a  spiritual  life  far  transcending 
the  religion  of  mere  Temple  services,  protesting  also  against 
the  idolatries  and  immorality  often  associated  with  worship 
in  the  ‘  high  places/  The  existence  of  this  class  is  the  most 
interesting  fact  in  the  higher  education  of  the  Jews.  Whether 
the  tradition  as  given  above  is  to  be  accepted  or  not  in  all  its 
details,  it  is  substantially  true.  The  actual  organisation  of 
colleges  may  be  more  than  questionable. 

During  this  period,  writing  became  customary,  and  priestly 
decisions  on  questions  of  law  were  thus  preserved  while  co¬ 
temporary  historical  records  were  made,  or  added  to.  The 
accumulation  of  legal  decisions  added  to  the  learning  and 
importance  of  the  sacerdotal  class,  many  of  whom  were  also 
scribes. 

While  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  education  of  the  people, 
as  a  whole,  had  altered  its  domestic  and  traditionary  form, 
this  is  not  true  of  the  higher  section  of  society  from  David 
onwards.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  prophets  spoke 
to  empty  air  :  they  had  an  audience,  and  such  of  their  lofty 
spiritual  conceptions  as  found  expression  in  lyrics  would 
easily  find  their  way  even  among  the  masses.  We  are,  in¬ 
deed,  quite  justified  in  dating  the  fact  and  influence  of  the 
prophets  from  Samuel  onwards.  For  it  is  in  direct  contra¬ 
diction  of  all  the  principles  applied  to  historical  investigation 
to  imagine  that  men  like  Amos  and  Hosea  had  no  prede¬ 
cessors.  ‘  The  condition  we  find  prevailing  at  the  time  of 
the  first  admitted  literary  compositions  implies  an  antecedent 
period  of  literary  activity  and  religious  education  ’  (Professor 
Robertson,  p.  70).  And  the  words  of  Amos  and  Hosea 
themselves  (see  the  passages  quoted  by  Professor  Robertson) 
fully  justify  our  conclusions,  if  it  be  the  truth  we  seek  and  not 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


83 


the  cheap  reputation  of  the  man  who  is  up  to  the  fashion  of 
the  hour  in  criticism.  The  existence  of  the  prophets,  I  have 
said,  implies  an  audience  and  numerous  sympathisers,  while 
the  existence  of  written  prophecies  presumes  that  there  were 
people  who  can  read  them.  That  writing  and  reading  were 
pretty  widely  spread  during  the  latter  half  of  the  period  of 
which  I  am  speaking  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt.  It 
does  not  follow  that  there  were  ‘  schools  ’  in  our  modern  sense 
of  the  word.  Priests  and  scribes  would,  according  to  the  uni¬ 
versal  Oriental  custom,  be  taught  at  the  Temple,  or  wherever 
there  were  priests ;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  teaching  was 
individual  teaching. 

While  it  is  doubtless  correct  to  say  that  reading  of  MS. 
rolls  and  writing  were  confined  to  the  upper  section  of 
society,  we  are  not  to  conclude  that  the  teaching  of  the  grow¬ 
ing  literature  of  the  nation  did  not  reach  the  masses  of  the 
people,  and  influence,  if  not  mould,  their  lives.  Amos  himself 
was  one  of  the  people.  It  is  only  the  other  day  that  the  arts 
of  reading  and  writing  were  unknown  to  the  masses  in  Eng¬ 
land. 

The  Third  Period 

PERIOD  OF  THE  SCRIBE  AND  THE  SYNAGOGUE 
(Decree  of  Cyrus  537  b.  c.  Ezra  458  b.  c.) 

After  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  (the  dedication  was 
516  b.  c.)  and  the  return  of  Ezra  (458  B.  c.),  we  have  a  new 
development.  For  a  time,  the  Judaic  organisation,  never 
fully  expressed  or  stringently  enforced  owing  to  the  constant 
lapse  of  kings  and  people  into  Canaanitish  and  Phoenician 
idolatries,  had  been  broken  in  pieces.  Semitic  immigrants  had 
found  their  way  into  the  southern  as  they  had  formerly  done 
into  the  northern  kingdom,  and  the  memory  of  the  Mosaic 
tradition  and  all  that  so  signally  differentiated  the  Hebrews 
from  other  Semites  had  been  imperilled.  The  most  strenu¬ 
ous  efforts  were  now  made  to  restore  what  had  been  lost  and 
to  formulate  the  whole  Jewish  conception  of  theocratic  tradi- 


84 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


tion.  More  than  ever  before,  we  now  find  a  polity  organised 
on  the  basis  of  a  common  religious  idea  and  administered  by 
religious  functionaries.  The  high  priest  was  now  the  true 
king,  and  the  council  or  senate  of  which  he  was  president, 
composed  of  elders  and  scribes  as  well  as  priests,  governed 
all  things  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical. 

The  prophets  now  disappear,  but  they  had  left  behind  a 
rich  inheritance  to  the  people.  Their  lofty  utterances  were 
now,  as  written  documents,  accessible  to  all  who  could  read 
or  listen  intelligently  to  reading,  and  must  have  been  in  the 
highest  degree  educative.  For  what  had  been  their  aim  from 
the  time  of  Amos  and  Hosea  in  the  eighth  century  B.  c.  ?  To 
abolish  all  idolatry  and  to  purify  and  exalt  the  popular  con¬ 
ceptions  of  the  national  God,  as  the  God  of  the  human  race, 
who  cared  less  even  for  Israel  than  for  righteousness.  They 
taught  that  the  right,  the  just,  the  good  were  the  attributes 
of  Jehovah,  and  thus  gave  him  an  universal  character.  All 
nations  were  to  be  brought  to  Him.  He  was  no  longer  the 
mere  ‘  Hearer  ’  of  Israel.  Priestly  sacrifices  were  as  nothing 
in  the  eyes  of  the  universal  God  of  heaven  and  earth,  com¬ 
pared  with  integrity  of  heart  and  purity  of  conduct.  In 
truth,  religious  faith  and  philosophic  contemplation  of  the 
graver  aspects  of  human  life  had  reached  in  the  writings  of 
the  prophets  and  in  the  psalter  to  the  highest  expression 
which  the  world  had  ever  seen  or,  probably,  ever  will  see. 
These  writings  were  now  the  possession  of  the  nation,  al¬ 
though  for  want  of  schools  they  could  influence  them  only 
through  the  priestly  and  higher  classes.  Their  teaching, 
however,  would  receive  confirmation  and  an  ever-fresh  im¬ 
pulse  from  the  prescribed  periodical  visits  to  the  Temple. 

Higher  Education.  —  Meanwhile  there  was  arising  a 
class  of  learned  men  side  by  side  with  the  priesthood.  The 
scribes,  who  had  been  coming  more  into  prominence  even 
before  the  Exile,  had,  before  300  B.c.,  become  an  important 
order.  As  the  name  and  function  of  scribe  was  open  to  all, 
it  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  lay  order  like  the  schools  of  the 
prophets.  A  priest  or  Levite  might  be  a  scribe,  but  the  pro- 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


85 


fession  was  not  confined  to  any  order.  Men  of  various  occu¬ 
pations  were  also  scribes.  Ezra,  fifth  century  B.c.,  was  both 
priest  and  scribe.  After  the  return  from  the  Captivity  the 
scribe  class  gradually  increased  in  number.  They  became 
in  fact  the  learned  and  legal  class,  and  as  such  the  more 
eminent  of  them  were  teachers  —  expounders  of  the  law. 
They  also  extended  the  law  by  their  glosses  and  interpreta¬ 
tions.  The  prophets  were  thus  practically  superseded  by  a 
written  law  and  an  authoritative  oral  interpretation,  out  of 
which  came  the  Talmud. 

The  legal  tradition  of  the  scribes,  based  on  the  law,  was 
oral,  and  the  amount  of  memory  work  demanded  of  those 
who  would  excel  in  this  profession  as  teachers  or  advisers 
was  very  great.  They  taught  chiefly  in  the  porches  of  the 
Temple  (the  headquarters  being  Jerusalem)  and  in  syna¬ 
gogues,  and  gradually  the  whole  law  and  its  application  to 
the  affairs  of  life  fell  into  their  hands.  Unless  they  had  pri¬ 
vate  means  they  did  not  always  devote  themselves  exclusively 
to  study  and  teaching,  but  followed  also  some  special  indus¬ 
try.  These  schools  of  the  scribes  were  also  headquarters  of 
disputation  by  which  difficult  points  were  settled.  Their 
teaching  was  for  all,  there  being  nothing  esoteric  in  Judaism. 
They  came  to  be  known  in  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
era  as  the  ‘  Rabbinical  ’  schools,  and  acquired  gradually  an  in¬ 
fluence  with  the  people  greater  than  that  of  the  priests.  The 
heads  of  these  schools  were  first  technically  called  ‘  Rabbins  ’ 
(Masters)  about  the  time  of  Christ. 

It  was  a  great  fall,  certainly,  from  the  schools  of  the 
prophets  to  the  schools  of  the  scribes  —  from  the  spiritual 
life  to  the  formal,  legal,  and  external ;  but  unquestionably 
the  gradual  multiplication  of  legal  dicta  and  prescriptions  and 
of  ritual  observances  tended  to  preserve  the  Jewish  nation  in 
its  exclusiveness  and  in  ‘  soundness  of  faith.’  The  instruc¬ 
tion  of  youth  formed  one  of  the  chief  functions  of  the  order. 
‘  Every  eminent  teacher  of  the  law  .  .  .  collected  round  him 
a  larger  or  smaller  number  of  young  men,’  says  Schiirer,  ‘who 
desired  to  be  educated  by  him  so  as  to  become  capable  scribes. 
With  this  purpose  in  view  there  existed  school-houses  in 


86 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


which  the  law  was  methodically  taught.  In  Jerusalem  they 
assembled  in  the  outer  porch  of  the  Temple.  Teachers  and 
scholars  sat,  the  teacher  being  generally  raised  a  little  above 
the  level  of  his  pupils.  The  instruction  was  oral  and  dispu- 
tatory.  The  teacher  asked,  how  must  it  be  done  (or  deter¬ 
mined)  in  this  or  that  case.  And  the  scholars  had  to  answer. 
They  were  also  at  liberty  to  put  questions  to  the  teacher/ 
The  great  aim  was  to  receive  in  the  memory,  and  to  reproduce, 
what  was  taught;  and  this  latter  in  identical  terms.  The 
pupil,  as  was  the  general  Oriental  practice,  hung  on  the  lips 
of  his  master.  All  this  presumed  a  prior  elementary  instruc¬ 
tion,  but  this  must  have  been,  largely  at  least,  domestic,  for 
there  is  no  evidence  of  the  existence  of  elementary  schools. 

During  the  centuries  immediately  preceding  the  birth  of 
Christ,  the  growing  power  of  the  scribe  (or  Eabbinical)  schools 
threw  the  priesthood  more  and  more  into  the  shade,  confin¬ 
ing  them  to  functions  of  sacrifice,  ceremonial,  and  govern¬ 
ment.  After  the  destruction  of  the  Temple  by  the  Romans, 
a.d.  70,  the  teaching  scribes  called  Rabbins  finally  superseded 
the  priesthood.  This  development  of  a  learned  order  is  the 
leading  fact  of  this  period  of  Jewish  educational  history. 
Besides  the  interpretation  of  written  statutes  by  common 
sense,  these  teachers  and  expounders  of  the  law  believed  that 
they  alone  were  the  vehicles  of  the  development  of  the  Mosaic 
law  outside  the  Torah  or  Pentateuch.  This  unwritten  and 
ever-growing  tradition  (Massorah  and  Kabbala)  gave  them 
great  power. 

In  these  schools  of  the  scribes  all  learning  was  concen¬ 
trated,  but  the  priesthood  and  the  higher  laity  generally 
shared  in  the  educational  advance.  The  learning  of  the 
time  entered  into  the  higher  course  of  study  —  not  only 
mathematics  and  astronomy,  but,  from  the  third  century  B.  c., 
Hellenic  literature  and  philosophy. 

Popular  Education.  —  But  while  the  higher  classes  of 
the  community  shared  in  the  progressive  movement  which 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  scribes,  an  educational  change  had 
begun  among  the  masses  of  the  people  of  still  greater  sig¬ 
nificance  than  the  schools  of  the  scribes.  This  was  the 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


87 


gradual  institution,  from  the  time  of  Ezra,  of  synagogues 
throughout  the  land,  where  the  law  might  be  weekly  read  and 
expounded  to  the  people,  and  prayer  and  praise  offered.  We 
can  easily  see  that  the  influence  of  these  local  schools  of  re¬ 
ligion  must  have  been  incalculable.  Young  and  old  benefited 
by  them.  It  was,  doubtless,  to  the  Central  Council  at  Jeru¬ 
salem  constituted  in  the  time  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  that  the 
Jews  owed  these  institutions — the  prototype  of  the  Christian 
parochial  system.  Scribes  read  and  taught  in  the  synagogues  ; 
but  it  was  competent  for  the  elders  of  the  people  to  conduct 
service,  so  that  here  again  as  in  the  case  of  the  prophets,  we 
have  cropping  out  the  essentially  lay  and  unsacerdotal  char¬ 
acter  of  the  most  theocratic  of  races.  All  the  people  might 
now  be  regarded  as  students  of  the  law  and  the  prophets. 
In  the  fourth  century  B.  c.  there  were  synagogues  in  all 
towns,  and  in  the  second  century  in  villages  also. 

Dean  Milman  says,  speaking  of  this  movement :  ‘  In  ad¬ 
dition  to  the  central  Temple  and  its  ceremonial  the  Jew  now 
had  his  synagogue  —  where,  in  a  smaller  community,  he  as¬ 
sembled,  with  a  few  of  his  neighbours,  for  divine  worship, 
for  prayer,  and  for  instruction  in  the  law.  The  latter  more 
immediately,  and  gradually  the  former,  fell  entirely  under 
the  regulation  of  the  regular  interpreter  of  the  law,  who,  we 
may  say,  united  the  professions  of  the  clergy  and  the  law  — 
the  clergy  considered  as  public  instructors ;  for  the  law- 
school  and  the  synagogue  were  always  closely  connected,  if 
they  did  not  form  parts  of  the  same  building.  Thus  there 
arose  in  the  state  the  curious  phenomenon  of  a  spiritual 
supremacy  distinct  from  the  priesthood,  for  though  many  of 
these  teachers  were  actually  priests  and  Levites,  they  were 
not  necessarily  so  —  a  supremacy  which  exercised  the  most 
unlimited  dominion,  not  formally  recognised  by  the  consti¬ 
tution,  but  not  the  less  real  and  substantial,  for  it  was 
grounded  in  the  general  belief,  ruled  by  the  willing  obedi¬ 
ence  of  its  subjects,  and  was  rooted  in  the  very  minds  and 
hearts  of  the  people,  till  at  length  the  maxim  was  openly 
promulgated,  “  the  voice  of  the  Babbi  the  voice  of  God.” 
Thus,  though  the  high  priest  was  still  the  formal  and  ac- 


88 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


knowledged  head  of  the  state,  the  real  influence  passed  away 
to  these  recognised  interpreters  of  the  divine  word.’  (Mil- 
man,  ii.  410).  The  attendant  or  beadle  of  the  synagogue,  it  is 
said,  taught  the  children  during  the  week,  and  thus  the  syna¬ 
gogues  gradually  became  schools  for  the  young  as  well  as 
the  adult.  But  it  is  not  to  be  inferred  from  this  that  even 
so  late  as  three  centuries  B.c.,  instruction  in  reading,  writing, 
and  arithmetic  reached  any,  save  a  small  proportion  of  the 
general  population,  except  in  so  far  as  it  was  home  teaching. 1 
This  proportion,  however,  went  on  increasing,  and,  it  would 
appear,  with  considerable  rapidity,  after  the  Maccabean  re¬ 
volt,  167  b.c.  Still  I  think  we  may  fairly  conclude  that  for 
about  four  centuries  before  Christ,  elementary  instruction 
was  generally  accessible  through  individual  public  teaching 
or  parental  teaching,  and  that  clever  and  energetic  boys 
could  thus  raise  themselves  above  the  humbler  ranks  of 
poverty.  Popular  education  was,  however,  education  by  the 
synagogue ,  which  brought  home  to  every  small  community 
of  Jews  the  central  idea  of  their  faith  and  the  system  of 
morality,  law,  and  ritual  based  on  it.  Speaking  of  the 
synagogue  Wellhausen  says  (p.  159),  ‘  The  Bible  became  the 
spelling-book,  the  community  a  school,  religion  an  affair  of 
teaching  and  learning.  Piety  and  education  were  inseparable. 
Whoever  could  not  read  was  no  true  Jew.’ 

The  services  of  the  synagogue  were :  1.  The  recital  of 
what  was  substantially  a  Creed.  2.  Prayer.  3.  Reading 
and  expounding  of  Scripture.  4.  The  Blessing.  And  the 
whole  was  under  the  general  control  of  a  Board  of  Elders 
with  a  chief  or  president.  Nor  did  the  Reader  merely  read: 
he  expounded,  following  the  example  of  Ezra  and  his  friends, 
of  whom  Nehemiah  (viii.)  says,  ‘  They  read  in  the  book  in 
the  law  of  God,  distinctly :  and  they  gave  the  sense,  so  that 
they  understood  the  reading.’ 

Quite  apart,  then,  from  the  educational  and  formative 
influence  of  the  great  stream  of  religious  tradition  supported 

1  There  is  no  actual  evidence  of  the  existence  of  schools  for  children  before 
200  b.c. 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


89 


by  sacrificial  acts  and  solemn  festivals  at  Jerusalem,1  we 
must  fix  attention  on  the  pre-exilic  schools  of  the  prophets 
and  the  post-exilic  organisation  of  the  scribes  as  truly  repre¬ 
senting  the  higher  education  of  the  Jews.  As  to  the  former, 
I  have  already  said  that  many  who  attached  themselves  to 
the  prophetic  communities  had  a  low  enough  moral  standard 
and  looked  to  divination  and  soothsaying  as  the  source  of 
their  power  over  the  people  and  of  profit  to  themselves.  But 
in  all  religious  and  academic  orders,  we  find  men  who  fail  to 
rise  to  the  idea  which  first  constituted  the  order  and  con¬ 
tinues  to  maintain  it  in  existence.  With  all  their  defects 
they  were  all  members  of  a  voluntary  religious  community 
out  of  which  from  time  to  time  rose  men  of  light  and  lead¬ 
ing  —  many  doubtless  whose  names  have  perished.  The 
prophetic  studies  apart  from  theology  were  (tradition  says, 
and  as  I  have  already  mentioned)  music  and  verse,  mathe¬ 
matics  and  Chaldsean  astronomy,  as  well  as  the  law  and 
its  spiritual  interpretation.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  all 
this  was  thoroughly  organised,  but  it  was  an  operative 
reality.  Nor  could  these  communities  have  existed  without 
finding  a  response  in  the  minds  of  (at  least)  the  higher 
classes  of  the  community,  and  influencing  the  tone  of  thought 
among  the  common  people.  To  enter  into  this  field  of  reli¬ 
gious  and  intellectual  activity  it  was  not,  let  me  again  point 
out,  necessary  to  be  a  priest  or  Levite,  and  this  is  an  impor¬ 
tant  fact  to  the  historian  of  education.  The  prophets  were 
a  lay  order,  though  not  excluding  Levites. 

After  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  (516  B.c.)  although 
we  still  have  one  or  two  prophets,  the  intellectual  life  of  the 
Jews  passed,  as  we  have  seen,  into  the  keeping  of  the 
organised  scribes.  (They  w^ere  frequently  organised  into 
Guilds.)  This  organisation  furnished  men  to  read  and  inter¬ 
pret  the  law  and  the  prophets  in  every  part  of  the  kingdom 
and  also  among  the  dispersed  colonies  ;  while  public  worship 

1  Doubtless  this  kind  of  education  was  common  to  all  nations,  but  it  is 
the  Jcmd  and  quality  of  the  tradition  that  is  all-important  as  a  formative 
power.  (Compare  the  Aztecs. ) 


90 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


and  sacrifice  and  the  offering  of  incense  were  still  centralised 
at  Jerusalem  with  a  view  to  the  preservation  of  their  purity 
(although  the  ark  of  the  covenant  was  now  lost).  The 
scribes  were  literary  men,  learned  in  the  law,  and  not  only 
teachers  of  the  law  but  alive  to  all  the  educational  influ¬ 
ences  of  their  time.  Hellenic  speculation  and  literature 
gradually  found  their  way  among  them.  It  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  all  of  this  order  had  wide  intellectual  interests ; 
but  among  them  were  many  who  studied  the  Greek  language 
and  literature,  mathematics,  foreign  tongues,  geography,  and 
such  science  as  was  current,  including  astronomy.  There  also 
grew  up  among  them  a  belief  in  immortality  and  the  resur¬ 
rection  of  the  body.1  They  were,  moreover,  as  far  as  the  law 
was  concerned,  progressive ;  for  they  assumed  the  authority 
of  continuous  oral  tradition  which  enabled  them,  by  interpre¬ 
tations  and  glosses  and  artificial  constructions,  to  adapt  the 
law  to  changing  circumstances.  A  bad  use  unfortunately 
was  made  of  this  freedom  to  multiply  forms  and  ceremonies, 
and  to  confound  the  petty  with  the  important  in  morality  and 
religion.  Prescription  and  proscription  of  certain  outward 
acts  characterised  these  teachings  —  acts  which  in  themselves 
had  no  spiritual  significance.  The  burden  which  they  gradu¬ 
ally  imposed  on  the  people  (as  did  the  Brahmans  in  India) 
was  greater  than  they  could  bear ;  although  the  more  zealous 
delighted  in  it.  The  point  of  interest  for  us,  however,  is 
that  they  were  an  educated  and  studious  and  learned  body 
of  men.  They  had  to  translate  the  Hebrew  scriptures  into 
the  Aramaic  dialect,  for  the  majority  had  by  this  time  ceased 
to  understand  the  ancient  Hebrew  tongue.  They  also  formed 
the  literature  of  the  people ;  for  out  of  their  schools  came 
the  Talmud.  The  Talmud  began  in  the  production  of  the 
Mishnah,  a  paraphrase  of  the  law.  Then  followed  in  future 
generations  commentaries,  homilies,  &c.,  which,  with  a  large 
mass  of  oral  tradition,  constituted  the  Talmudic  literature, 

1  The  bulk  of  the  nation  were  Pharisees  accepting  the  doctrine  of  the 
scribes.  The  small  Essenic  party  were  an  offshoot  of  the  Pharisees  with 
mystical  and  ascetic  beliefs.  The  Sadducees  were  chiefly  a  political  party. 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


91 


all  centring  round  the  law  and  its  interpretation  and  practi¬ 
cal  application. 

As  tradition  accumulated,  the  schools  of  the  scribes,  as 
depositaries  of  all  learning,  bearing  alike  on  the  great  and 
small  affairs  of  life,  became  a  dominating  force  in  the  life  of 
the  nation.  They  made  their  power  felt  as  guides  in  the 
whole  business  of  life  and  as  deciders  of  cases  among  the 
whole  population,  and  exercised  an  intellectual  despotism. 
After  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  a.d.  70,  they  succeeded  as  Rab¬ 
bins  to  the  position  and  privileges  of  priesthood.  So  great 
was  the  mass  of  oral  and  written  tradition  that  to  be  a  worthy 
Rabbi  demanded  very  great  learning.  [It  was  190  a.d.  be¬ 
fore  a  critical  edition  of  the  Mishnah  was  issued,  and  270  a.d. 
before  a  critically  edited  authoritative  commentary  appeared.] 

I  have  said  that,  in  addition  to  the  law  and  the  prophets 
and  the  mass  of  oral  traditions  and  interpretations,  the  Greek 
language,  Greek  philosophy,  and  mathematics  were  prose¬ 
cuted  by  many  at  least  from  the  third  century  B.c.  Greek 
was  esteemed  more  highly  than  all  other  foreign  tongues, 
and  next  to  Hebrew  was  considered  the  most  beautiful  of 
all.  ‘  The  Torah  (Law)  may  be  translated  only  into  Greek, 
because  only  by  this  language  can  it  be  faithfully  rendered.’ 
It  is  further  said,  'the  Greek  language  may  in  every  respect 
be  used.’  It  is  true  that  Greek  philosophy  was  suspected 
and  denounced  by  the  Rabbinical  doctors  for  manifest  rea¬ 
sons  ;  but  not  more  earnestly  than  by  the  Christian  church 
after  the  third  century  a.d.  The  sages  say  of  the  tongue  of 
Hellas,  that  the  words  ‘  there  is  no  blemish  in  her,’  may  be 
applied  to  it,  for  ‘  it  distinguishes  itself  by  a  keen  sense  of 
that  which  is  perfectly  noble.’  ‘  There  are  four  languages,’ 
observes  Rabbi  Nathan,  ‘  which  are  distinguished  by  superior 
and  special  qualities.  The  Greek  sounds  beautifully  in  poetry 
on  account  of  its  rhythm;  the  Roman  in  war,  on  account  of 
its  sonorous  masculine  power ;  the  Syriac  in  mournful  songs, 
on  account  of  its  numerous  dull,  hollow  vowel-sounds  ;  the 
Hebrew  for  its  clear  and  articulate  utterance  in  speech.’ 


92 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Instruction  in  Greek,  indeed,  became  quite  general  before 
the  birth  of  Christ,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  language  formed 
an  essential  part  of  a  good  higher  education. 1  But  the  na¬ 
tional  literature,  i.  e.  the  Scriptures,  the  Talmudic  Mishnah, 
Gemara,  &c.,  continued  to  furnish  the  principal  material  for 
teaching  in  the  schools.  The  religious  aim  was  always  dom¬ 
inant,  if  not  exclusive.  2 


Fourth  Period 

PERIOD  OF  THE  RABBIN  AND  THE  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL 

(From  the  Birth  of  Christ  onwards) 

Notwithstanding  the  great  advance  in  general  education 
in  the  upper  half  of  society,  the  majority  of  Jews,  it  is  said, 
could  neither  read  nor  write  in  the  generation  preceding  the 
birth  of  Christ ;  but  this  fact  is  comparatively  unimportant. 
It  was  true  of  England  less  than  100  years  ago. 

The  chief  educational  feature  of  the  period  after  the 
birth  of  Christ  is  the  further  extension  and  consolidation  of 
the  Scribe  schools  now  called  Babbinical  schools  ;  and,  along 

7  7  O 

with  this,  the  extension  of  the  Rabbinical  power.  As  the 
body  of  law  increased  in  bulk,  the  people  became  more 
and  more  dependent  on  Rabbinical  experts  for  advice  and 
direction  in  their  social  and  business  relations,  as  well  as  for 
instruction  in  the  ‘  acts  ’  of  religion.  An  order  which  was 
at  once  preacher,  teacher,  and  legal  adviser  could  not  fail  to 
exercise  supreme  power;  and,  as  I  have  already  said,  it 
became,  after  the  cessation  of  the  Temple  sacrifice  (a.d.  70), 
the  sole  authority. 

It  was  not  till  a  few  years  before  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  that  primary  schools  became  general,  and  these 
do  not  concern  us  so  closely  as  the  pre-christian  education, 
for  nothing  later  than  the  second  century  before  Christ  can 

1  It  is  probable  that  schools  of  the  Hellenic  type  existed  at  Jerusalem 
200  years  b.c. 

2  The  vessels  of  the  Temple  were  marked  with  Greek  letters. 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


93 


be  regarded  as  of  purely  Israelitish  growth.  Hellenic 
influences  had  been  long  felt  and  acknowledged  at  the 
headquarters  of  Judaism.  The  settlements  scattered  round 
the  Mediterranean  coasts  had,  moreover,  reacted  powerfully 
even  on  the  hierarchy  at  Jerusalem,  as  well  as  on  the  schools 
of  the  scribes  and  had  probably  led  to  schools  of  the  Hellenic 
type  at  Jerusalem  nearly  200  years  B.  c. 

In  A.D.  64  elementary  schools  were  first  made  obligatory 
by  the  high  priest  Josu6  ben  Gamala.  One  teacher  was 
to  be  employed  where  there  were  25  children,  an  assistant 
when  the  number  exceeded  25,  and  two  teachers  where  the 
number  of  pupils  exceeded  40.  These  schools  were  now 
everywhere  diffused  in  the  countries  inhabited  by  Jews  — 
indeed  wherever  there  was  a  synagogue.  The  instruction 
was  gratuitous.  The  introduction  of  alien  races  and  religions 
among  the  Jews,  and  the  dispersion  of  the  Jews  themselves, 
made  schools  for  children,  as  well  as  synagogues  for  adults, 
essential  to  the  protection  and  preservation  of  the  true  faith. 
It  was  this  necessity,  and  the  example  of  the  Greeks,  which 
led  to  the  general  diffusion  of  instruction  among  the  people. 
Without  the  synagogue  and  its  school  the  national  tradition 
and  law  would  have  gradually  disappeared  under  foreign 
influences. 

It  is  interesting  to  note,  however,  that  the  Jews  were  the 
first  to  insist  on  the  education  of  the  whole  people.  All  were 
equal  before  God :  the  law  was  laid  on  each  man  and  was 
not  the  secret  of  a  class. 

The  course  of  instruction  was  as  follows.  From  the 
sixth  to  the  tenth  year  the  law  (Pentateuch)  was  the  only 
study,  along  with  writing  and  arithmetic.  From  the  tenth 
to  the  fifteenth  year,  the  pupil  was  instructed  in  that  part 
of  the  Talmud  called  Mishnah,  substantially  a  paraphrastic 
development  of  the  law.  After  the  fifteenth  year  the 
Gemara  was  taught.  Learning  by  rote  was  an  inevitable 
and  leading  characteristic  of  such  teachings.  We  can 
easily  understand  that  instruction  of  this  kind  must  have 
inflicted  a  grievous  burden  on  young  minds  and  crushed 


94 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


out  all  spontaneity  of  life.  Doubtless  this  was  quite  under¬ 
stood  and  intended  by  the  authorities :  all  were  to  be  cast 
in  one  mould.  Up  to  the  age  of  thirteen  the  boy  was  not 
expected  to  either  know  or  fulfil  the  whole  law.  He  then, 
at  the  presumed  age  of  puberty,  entered  on  the  rights  and 
duties  of  a  full-grown  Israelite. 

The  pupils  wrote  on  waxen  tablets  with  a  style,  and 
when  advanced,  on  paper  or  parchment  with  a  pen,  like  the 
children  of  the  Romano-Greek  world  generally. 

In  the  higher  schools  Greek,  mathematics,  and  such 
science  as  was  known  were  taught. 

The  sole  aim  of  female  education  was  the  making  of  the 
accomplished  housewife,  of  whom  we  have  a  description  in 
the  Book  of  Proverbs. 

That  the  discipline,  domestic  and  other,  was  in  pre- 
christian  times  severe  might  be  inferred  from  the  intolerable 
nature  of  the  instruction  given  and  from  the  material  re¬ 
wards  and  punishments  which  were  so  prominent  a  charac¬ 
teristic  of  the  Jewish  religion.  It  is  in  perfect  consonance 
with  the  Judaic  code  that  pain  of  a  bodily  kind  should  be 
the  only  correction  which  suggested  itself  to  the  early 
Jewish  writers  when  they  touched  on  education.  ‘  He  that 
spareth  his  rod  liateth  his  son,  but  he  that  loveth  him, 
chasteneth  him  betimes.’  —  Prov.  xiii.  24.  ‘  Chasten  thy  son, 

seeing  there  is  hope,  and  set  not  thy  heart  on  his  destruc¬ 
tion.’  —  Prov.  xix.  18.  ‘  Foolishness  is  bound  up  in  the  heart 

of  the  child  ;  but  the  rod  of  correction  shall  drive  it  far  from 
him.’ —  Prov.  xxii.  15.  ‘Withhold  not  correction  from  the 
child ;  for  if  thou  beat  him  with  the  rod,  he  shall  not  die. 
Thou  shalt  beat  him  with  the  rod  and  shalt  deliver  his  soul 
from  Sheol’  —  Prov.  xxiii.  13.  In  Deuteronomy  xxi.  18,  we 
find  that  if  the  rod  fail,  the  son  is  to  be  stoned  to  death 
‘  at  sight  ’  of  the  elders  of  the  city.  This  conception  of  dis¬ 
cipline  seems  to  have  prevailed  till  about  the  time  of  Christ. 

In  so  far  as  severity  of  discipline  was  modified  after  the 
birth  of  Christ,  it  was  under  the  influence  of  the  Talmudic 
writings,  and  not  of  the  law  in  its  purity. 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


95 


The  Talmud  and  Education 

The  Talmudic  writings  contain  so  much  that  bears  on 
education  as  understood  by  the  Jew  when  brought  under 
humane  Hellenic  (and  doubtless  also  Christian)  influences, 
that  I  shall  add  a  few  remarks  on  this  stage  of  Jewish 
educational  history.1 

The  School  and  the  Schoolmaster.  —  That  the  work  of  the 
school  and  the  function  of  the  teacher  hold  a  high  place  in 
the  Talmud  could  be  shown  by  numerous  quotations.  But 
it  would  be  to  confound  chronology  to  regard  the  Talmudic 
precepts  as  indications  of  opinion  among  the  ancient  Israel¬ 
ites.  They  are  to  be  met  with  only  after  the  Jews  had 
been  in  contact  with  the  Greek  and  Roman  civilisations, 
while  some  of  them  belong  to  early  mediseval  history.  ‘  It 
is  the  breath  of  school  children  that  sustains  society,’  says 
R.  Jehuda  Hanassi.  ‘  He  who  studies  and  does  not  teach 
others  is  like  a  myrtle  in  the  desert.’  The  teachers  had  to 
be  married  men  and  not  too  young ;  for  ‘  instruction  by 
young  teachers  is  like  sour  grapes  and  new  wine ;  instruc¬ 
tion  by  older  teachers,  however,  is  like  ripe  grapes  and  old 
wine.’  ‘  Your  teacher  and  your  father  have  need  of  your 
assistance  ;  help  your  teacher  before  helping  your  father,  for 
the  latter  has  given  you  only  the  life  of  this  world,  while 
the  former  has  secured  for  you  the  life  of  the  world  to  come.’ 

Method.  —  As  regards  method,  the  following  text  is  wise: 
‘  If  you  attempt  to  grasp  too  much  at  once,  you  grasp 
nothing  at  all.’ 

The  teachers,  after  the  Oriental  fashion,  generally  relied 
on  memory  and  slavish  reproduction.  ‘  First  learn  by  heart 
and  then  know  ’  was  the  governing  formula.  On  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  memory,  it  is  well  said:  —  ‘Four  dispositions  are 
found  among  the  disciples;  he  who  comprehends  quickly 
and  quickly  forgets ;  such  an  one  loses  more  than  he  gains : 
he  who  with  difficulty  comprehends,  but  does  not  readily 

1  I  base  what  I  here  say  on  Spiers,  and  on  Gelder’s  Die  VolJcschule  des  Jiid. 
Alt.,  1872,  as  verified  by  reference  to  other  writers,  including  Dr.  Samuel 
Marcus. 


96 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


forget,  gains  more  than  he  loses :  he  who  comprehends 
easily,  but  does  not  easily  forget,  has  a  good  portion :  he 
who  slowly  comprehends  and  forgets  quickly  has  an  evil 
portion.’  One  of  the  instructions  for  learning  by  heart 
deserves  notice :  —  ‘  To  speak  out  loudly  the  sentence  which 
is  being  learned  strengthens  the  same  in  the  memory.’ 
‘  Open  thy  mouth  in  order  that  thou  mayest  retain  the 
subject  of  thy  study,  and  that  it  may  remain  alive  within 
thee.’  The  wife  of  Eabbi  Meir,  on  meeting  a  certain  student 
who  was  learning  his  lessons  in  a  low  tone,  rebuked  him, 
saying  that  it  was  not  the  right  way  of  learning.  ‘  Eabbi 
Elieser  had  a  pupil  who  studied  without  articulating  the 
words  of  his  lessons,  and  in  consequence  thereof  he  forgot 
everything  in  three  years.’ 

With  regard  to  the  system  of  repetition  Eabbi  Akiba  says  : 
‘  The  teacher  should  strive  to  make  the  lesson  agreeable  to 
the  pupils  by  clear  reasons,  as  well  as  by  frequent  repeti¬ 
tions,  until  they  thoroughly  understand  the  matter,  and  are 
enabled  to  recite  it  with  great  fluency  ’ ;  but  this  was  a  pious 
opinion,  not  the  school  practice.  A  certain  Eabbi,  it  is  stated, 
‘  had  a  disciple  with  whom  he  repeated  the  subject  four  hun¬ 
dred  times,  until  he  became  a  thorough  master  of  the  same.’ 

Special  regard  should  be  had  to  the  child  at  the  beginning 
of  his  studies,  it  is  said,  because  ‘  what  is  learned  as  a  child 
remains  in  his  memory  as  ink  written  on  new  paper.’ 
Nevertheless,  as  the  faculties  of  boys  do  not  always  expand 
with  their  advancing  age,  the  Talmud  advises  in  case  the 
boy  does  not  make  progress  in  his  studies,  to  exercise  for¬ 
bearance  towards  him  up  to  his  twelfth  year,  but  that  hence¬ 
forth  he  should  be  dealt  with  more  severely.  Experience 
proves,  it  is  said,  that  children  do  not  begin  to  show  much 
mental  capacity  as  a  rule  until  their  twelfth  year. 

Further,  it  is  recommended  to  the  teacher  to  have  pauses 
and  periods  in  each  subject.  ‘The  Almighty  Himself,’  it  is 
said,  ‘  did  not  impart  the  law  to  Moses  all  at  once,  but  in 
different  divisions  and  pauses,  so  as  to  make  it  more  intelli¬ 
gible.  How  much  more  then  ought  not  this  to  be  done  by 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


97 


a  human  teacher  ?  ’  Again  :  ‘  He  who  studies  hastily  and 
crams  too  much  at  once,  his  knowledge  shall  diminish  ;  hut 
he  who  studies  by  degrees  or  step  by  step,  shall  accumulate 
much  wisdom  and  learning.’ 

Brevity  in  imparting  was  likewise  held  to  be  an  indis¬ 
pensable  qualification  of  the  teacher.  He  should,  as  much  as 
possible,  be  concise  and  make  use  of  few  words.  Far-fetched 
digressions  are  to  be  avoided,  and  that  which  could  be  told  the 
pupil  in  one  word  should  not  be  imparted  in  three.  ‘  One 
should  instruct  the  pupils  in  the  shortest  manner  possible.’ 

Discipline.  —  The  discipline  included  in  the  Talmud,  un¬ 
like  that  of  the  ancient  Jews,  is  mild  and  was  doubtless 
largely  influenced  by  the  teaching  of  Christ ;  but  corporal 
chastisement  is  recognised.  ‘  Although  at  first  there  should 
be  shown  indulgence  to  the  child,  yet  further  on,  if  it  should 
prove  stubborn  and  inattentive,  a  slight  corporal  punish¬ 
ment  and  some  restrictions  may  be  adopted.’  The  elder 
pupils,  however,  should  not  have  to  undergo  corporal  pun¬ 
ishment  for  two  reasons :  first,  lest  it  should  wound  their 
sense  of  honour ;  and  secondly,  lest  it  should  arouse  resist¬ 
ance.  The  Babbins  say,  ‘  A  man  who  strikes  his  grown-up 
son  should  be  earnestly  reprimanded,  because  he  transgresses 
the  commandment,  “  Thou  shalt  not  put  a  stumbling  block 
before  the  blind,”  ’  which  is  thus  explained  by  Bashi : 
‘  Because  being  grown  up  he  might  rebel  against  his  father, 
who  would  thus  cause  him  to  sin.’  Again,  it  is  enjoined 
that  if  it  should  be  found  necessary  to  apply  corporal  pun¬ 
ishment,  it  must  be  inflicted  very  mildly  and  the  master  is 
not  to  use  a  cane,  but  a  light  strap,  in  order  not  to  injure 
the  pupils.  In  reference  to  this  we  read  in  the  Talmud  :  ‘If 
thou  art  compelled  to  punish  a  pupil,  do  it  only  with  gentle¬ 
ness  ;  encourage  those  who  make  progress,  and  let  him  who 
does  not,  still  remain  in  the  class  with  his  schoolfellows,  for 
he  will  ultimately  become  attentive  and  vie  with  them.’ 
B.  Samuel  Edels,  in  his  Commentary  on  the  Agadotli,  writes  : 
‘Only  those  pupils  should  be  punished  in  whom  the  master 
sees  that  there  are  good  capacities  for  learning  and  who  are 

7 


98 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


inattentive ;  but  if  they  are  dull  and  cannot  learn,  they 
should  not  be  punished.’  Just  as  punishment  formed  a  part 
of  school  discipline,  so  also  did  rewards.  For  we  are  told 
in  the  Talmud  that  Eabba  had  in  his  school  some  dainties 
of  which  he  would  occasionally  make  a  present  to  his  young 
pupils.  Again,  there  is  a  saying,  ‘  Children  should  be  pun¬ 
ished  with  one  hand  and  caressed  with  two.’ 

The  school  hours  were  long. 

To  conclude :  the  subjection  of  the  human  spirit  to  the 
conception  of  absolute  Law  and  the  prominence  given  to  ex¬ 
ternal  observances  in  the  conception  of  religion  as  a  kind  of 
contract  between  God  and  man,  gave  birth  among  the  Jews 
to  a  barren  formalism.  The  spiritual  ideas  which  doubtless 
underlay  the  whole  and  preserved  the  spirit  of  the  ancient 
prophets,  were  for  the  few. 

The  Jews  were  par  eminence  a  race  of  theological  genius 
as  the  Greeks  were  a  race  of  aesthetic  genius.  In  their 
writings,  the  personal  relations  of  man  to  God  as  a  god  of 
moral  law,  found  a  language  for  themselves  which  had 
never  been  reached  by  any  other  nation.  The  universal 
conception  of  God  as  Creator,  and  Preserver,  and  Father  of 
all  His  creatures,  and  as  rejoicing  in  the  work  of  His  hands 
which  in  its  turn  praised  Him,  transcended  all  other  human 
interpretations  of  the  divine.  But  at  this  point  all  true 
progress  of  the  intellect  and  imagination  ended.  The  scien¬ 
tific  and  dramatic  spirit  were  alike  alien  to  the  Jew.  He 
imbibed  both  from  other  races.  The  Judaic  theory  of  life 
required  also  that  the  past  should  be  all  in  all.  The 
spiritual  unity  of  the  race  was  doubtless  thereby  secured, 
but  at  an  enormous  sacrifice. 

Christ  opens  out  a  wider  vista  to  the  eye  of  man,  and  at 
no  point  checks  his  onward  advance.  In  Him  we  have  a 
transition  from  the  finite  to  the  true  infinite  in  the  religious 
conception.  The  moral  ideal  supersedes  the  prosaic  morali¬ 
ties  of  the  understanding,  and,  seen  in  God,  it  becomes  the 
spiritual  life.  With  the  genuine  Jew  the  personality  of  God 
was  too  clearly  defined,  and  His  externality  as  a  Law-giver 


THE  SEMITIC  RACES 


99 


too  strongly  emphasised,  to  admit  of  infinite  ideas.  Again, 
while  the  identification  of  religion  and  the  moral  law  was  in 
principle  sound,  the  stereotyping  of  the  latter  in  external 
observances  emanating  from  an  unquestioned  authority, 
killed  both.  A  free  personal  outlook  on  nature  and  life  was, 
under  such  conditions,  impossible.  We  must  trust  human¬ 
ity  as  an  ever-progressive  reason,  and  take  our  chance  of  the 
incidental  evils  which  may  attend  the  practice  of  the 
humanistic  free  Christian  faith. 

Indeed,  we  can  scarcely  say  that  among  the  Jews  religion 
and  the  moral  law,  as  we  now  understand  these,  were  one 
(as  they  boast  it  was  and  is),  but  rather  the  Sinaitic  voice 
of  God  as  despotic  command  and  a  corresponding  legality  — 
a  system  in  which  external  prescriptions  tended  to  choke 
the  purely  moral,  and  still  more  the  spiritual,  element  of  the 
life  of  mind.  The  prophets  live  for  all  mankind ;  to  the 
Jew  their  spiritualism  was  lost  in  formalism.  Externali¬ 
ties  of  technical  obedience  being  rigidly  attended  to,  the  Jew 
performed  his  part  of  the  covenant  with  God  — a  mere  busi¬ 
ness  transaction.  God  thereupon  was  bound  to  perform 
His  part,  which  in  early  times  was  the  granting  of  benefits 
in  this  life ;  at  a  later  period,  in  this  life  and  the  next. 
There  can  be  no  spiritual  or  religious  life  save  that  which 
the  voice  of  God  penetrates  and  sanctions,  but,  with  the 
ordinary  Jew,  this  voice  of  God  was,  I  repeat,  an  external 
voice;  and,  practically,  in  the  hands  especially  of  post-exilic 
priests  and  scribes,  it  became  a  detailed  series  of  legal  pre¬ 
scriptions  and  observances.  God  stood  apart,  and,  like  a 
schoolmaster,  imposed  rules,  with  rewards  and  penalties  for 
observance  and  non-observance.  This  was  the  Getter’  that 
killeth.  Christ  swept  it  away  and  preached  the  ‘  Spirit  ’ 
that  givetli  life,  and  thus  transformed  a  national  into  an 
universal  religion.  On  the  other  hand,  it  has  to  he  observed 
that  in  all  national  religions,  ancient  and  modern,  we  find 
two  parties  —  those  who,  endowed  with  a  deep  religious 
sense,  live  in  the  spirit  of  the  religion  they  profess,  regard¬ 
ing  all  else  as  merely  symbolic  of  the  inner  needs  and 


100 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


history  of  the  spiritual  man,  and  those  for  whom  the  intel¬ 
lectual  dogma  and  the  sensuous  symbol  and  the  religious  rite 
are  all  in  all.  In  the  case  of  the  Jews,  the  former  found  a 
pure  and  noble  expression  of  their  inner  life  in  the  Psalms 
and  the  Prophets,  the  latter  were  represented  by  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees. and  the  mass  of  the  people. 

It  seems  strange  that  a  system  of  life  so  encumbered  with 
ceremonial  and  externalities  should  have  attracted  converts 
in  the  heathen  world.  But,  before  and  after  the  time  of 
Christ,  Greek,  Roman,  and  Oriental  had  lost  faith  in  their 
gods  and  were  looking  for  God,  and  for  a  moral  system  sanc¬ 
tioned  by  Him.  This  the  Jew  could  give ;  and  allow  the 
proselyte  to  accept  as  much  or  as  little  of  the  ceremonial  as 
he  pleased. 

Authorities. — Many  of  the  books  mentioned  under  ‘Egypt,’  especially 
Records  of  the  Past.  Also  History  of  Babylonia ,  by  George  Smith  ;  Professor 
Tiele’s  Die  Assyriologie,  eine  Rede ;  Assyria ,  by  George  Smith ;  Maspero’s 
Dawn  of  Civilisation  in  the  East ;  Essai  sur  lliistoire  des  Arabes,  par  Caussin 
de  Perceval  Sir  W.  Muir’s  Life  of  Mahomet. 


Scripture  which  ends  442  b.  c.  ;  Ranke’s  History  of  the  W orld ;  Milman’s 
History  of  the  Jews ;  The  School  System  of  the  Talmud ,  by  Spiers ;  L’ education 
et  V instruction  des  enfants  chez  les  anciens  Juifs,  par  J.  Simon  ;  Geschichte  der 
Erz.  u.  des  TJnt.  bei  den  Israeliten,  von  B.  Strassburger  ;  Van  Gelder’s  Die 
Volkschule  des  Jiid.  Alt.  1872  ;  Schiirer’s  Jewish  People  in  the  Time  of  Christ ; 
Tiele’s  Outlines  of  the  History  of  Ancient  Religions ;  Duncker’s  History  of 
Antiquity  j  Die  Pddagogilc  des  Israelitischen  Polices ,  &c.,  von  Dr.  S.  Maicus, 
1877  ;  Wellhausen’s  Israel  und  Judah ;  Montefiore’s  Hibbert  Lectures ;  Graetz’s 
History  of  the  Jews  ;  Professor  Robertson  Smith’s  writings  ;  Professor  Robert¬ 
son  (of  Glasgow),  Early  Religion  of  Israel ;  Lex  Mosaica ,  recently  published  ; 
Professor  Menzies’  History  of  Religion. 

Note.  —  I  have  endeavoured,  not  without  great  difficulty,  to  steer  my  way 
among  conflicting  accounts.  It  is  impossible  to  accept  the  rose-coloured  views 
of  Jews  or  those  who  seem  to  hold  a  brief  for  them,  when  alleged  facts  are  not 
dated  and  guaranteed.  On  the  other  hand,  the  facts  which  are  available, 
combined  with  necessary  and  irresistible  inferences  from  Jewish  history  make 
it  equally  impossible  to  accept  the  views  of  those  who  would  minimise  the 
educational  work  among  the  Jews  themselves,  and  its  significance  in  the  edu¬ 
cation  of  the  whole  race  of  mankind. 


THE  URO-ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN 

RACES 


. 


THE  URO- ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN 

RACES 


The  races  of  mankind  not  Hamitic,  Semitic,  and  Indo- 
European  have  been  classed  as  Turanian,  or  Uro-Altaic ; 
but  this  classification  is  so  inadequate  that  it  will  doubtless 
be  modified  as  ethnology  progresses.  In  the  meantime,  for 
the  Eastern  Hemisphere  it  may  be  accepted.  Omitting  the 
merged  Accadians  of  the  Mesopotamian  basin  of  whom  we 
have  already  spoken,  we  have  to  go  north  and  east  to  follow 
the  migrations  of  the  Turanian  races. 

The  Turanian,  or  Uro-Altaic,  races  (so  called  from  the 
Siberian  range  of  mountains  of  this  name)  comprise  the 
Mongolians,  Chinese,  Manchus,  Japanese,  Turks,  and  Tartars, 
the  European  Finns,  and  the  original  stock  of  the  Hunga¬ 
rians.  Longer  than  other  races  they  retained  nomadic  habits, 
and  in  some  districts  of  the  East  still  retain  them.  The 
inhabitants  who  occupied  Chaldsea  before  the  arrival  of  the 
Semites  in  that  region  were  called  Accadians ;  and  to  these 
we  have  referred  in  speaking  of  the  Babylonian  Semites  who 
absorbed  them.1  The  Turanians  generally  have  a  mono¬ 
syllabic  and  agglutinative  language,  and  have  never  exhib¬ 
ited  a  capacity  for  progress  either  in  literature,  arts,  or 
science  beyond  a  certain  fixed  point,  except  under  post- 
christian  influences.  Their  highest  development  is  to  be 
found  in  China,  where  as  a  civilised  power  they  have  existed 
for,  certainly,  5,000  years ;  and  what  we  have  to  say  of  the 
Turanians  must  be  confined  to  this  the  highest  specimen  of 
their  social  organisation. 

1  The  most  recent  explorations  would  point  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
Turanian  or  Accadian  civilisation  itself  also  rested  on  a  prior  people.  Dr. 
de  Lacouperie  connects  closely  the  Accadians  and  Chinese. 


104 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


As  the  education  organised  among  this  remarkable  people 
affords  a  curious  contrast  to  that  both  of  the  Semitic  races 
and  of  the  Asiatic  Indo-Germans  or  Aryans,  of  whom  we 
shall  afterwards  speak,  it  is  quite  worth  our  while  to  en¬ 
deavour  to  enter  into  some  detail.  The  Chinese  educational 
development  is  indeed  highly  instructive  both  to  the  educa¬ 
tional  politician  and  the  schoolmaster. 

EDUCATION  IN  CHINA 

CHAP.  I.  NATIONAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

China  had  a  consciously  organised  scheme  of  education  long 
before  any  other  Asiatic  or  European  people.  Egyptian 
education  existed  from  an  earlier  date,  hut  it  was  never  an 
organised  system.  The  Chinese  system  is  instructive  as 
well  as  interesting,  because  it  suggests  many  considerations 
as  to  the  organisation  of  education  by  the  State  and  also  as 
to  authoritative  modes  of  testing  ability  and  learning  which 
bear  very  directly  on  European  and  American  education  at 
the  present  day. 

The  Chinese  empire  embraces,  besides  China  proper, 
Manchuria,  Mongolia,  Turkestan,  and  Tibet.  It  is  China 
proper  and  a  portion  of  the  Burmese  peninsula,  however, 
with  which  we  have  to  do.  The  dependencies  are  in  no 
way  so  advanced  in  civilisation  as  China-proper.  This  por¬ 
tion  of  the  empire  is  itself  1,600  miles  long  and  averages  in 
breadth  1,100  miles.  The  population  is  variously  estimated 
at  from  300  to  400  millions.  A  remarkable  evidence  of  its 
early  civilisation  is  to  be  found  in  the  Great  Wall  which 
was  constructed  in  the  third  century  before  the  Christian 
era  and  extends  up  hill  and  down  dale  along  the  northern 
boundary  for  1,250  miles,  is  20  feet  high  including  the 
parapet  of  5  feet,  25  feet  thick  at  the  base,  and  strengthened 
at  intervals  of  100  yards  by  square  towers  from  37  to  50 
feet  high. 

In  the  north  the  land  is  elevated ;  in  the  centre  it  is  an 
alluvial  plain  through  which  the  great  rivers  Hoang-ho  and 


THE  URO-ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  105 


Yang-tse-kiang  flow.  In  the  south  the  land  is  undulating 
and  interspersed  with  valleys  and  mountains.  The  middle 
region  is  the  centre  of  the  rice,  suar,  and  silk  culture;  in 
the  southern  part  of  it  the  tea-shrub  flourishes ;  in  the  north 
we  find  the  usual  food  grains. 

The  accepted  history  of  China  dates  from  2,500  years  B.C., 
although  it  is  far  from  trustworthy  for  long  after  this  date. 
As  early  as  2205  B.c.  we  find  the  country  organised  as  a 
feudal  State,  the  system  being  somewhat  similar  to  that 
which  prevailed  in  Europe  in  mediseval  times.  In  the  eigh¬ 
teenth  century  b.c.  there  were  seventy-two  feudal  States.  In 
403  B.c.  the  feudal  princedoms  had  been  reduced  to  seven 
great  States,  and  in  220  B.c.  the  whole  was  organised  into  an 
Empire.  There  have  been  many  changes  of  dynasties,  hut 
the  imperial  organisation  has  remained  much  the  same  for 
more  than  2,000  years.  The  present  dynasty  is  Manchu  and 
dates  from  1643  a.d.  The  native  Chinese,  however,  are  fully 
recognised  in  the  highest  councils  of  the  emperor  as  well  as 
in  the  whole  administrative  system.  The  imperial  govern¬ 
ment  in  Peking  supervises  and  controls  the  administration  of 
all  the  provinces  and  exercises  the  power  of  removing  all 
officials. 

Language - The  speech  of  the  Chinese  is  monosyllabic: 

out  of  the  radical  they  form  compounds.  There  are  no  in¬ 
flections  —  nay,  the  same  root  is  retained  to  denote  noun, 
verb,  preposition,  adverb  —  the  grammatical  class  to  which 
it  belongs  being  indicated  by  tone,  accent,  or  position  alone. 
The  language  is,  in  brief,  inorganic,  a  mere  aggregate  of  roots, 
not  of  letter-sounds.  In  all  speech  there  must  of  course  be 
organism,  but  in  the  case  of  the  Chinese,  I  suppose  we  may 
say  that  the  organism  is  understood  j  it  is  in  the  thought  of 
the  speaker  and  hearer,  and  not  embodied  in  the  forms  of  the 
language  as  in  Latin  or  Greek.  The  speech  of  the  Chinese 
has  been  aptly  compared  to  that  of  a  child,  which  utters 
words  one  after  another  without  forming  them  organically 
into  a  sentence.  The  letters,  or  shapes  to  denote  words,  were 


106 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


originally  hieroglyphic  or  ideographic,  the  symbols  gradually 
losing  their  ideographic  character;  and  this  especially  in 
compounds.  ‘  When  letters  were  invented/  the  Chinese  say, 
‘  the  heavens,  earth,  and  the  gods  were  all  agitated.  The  in¬ 
habitants  of  Hades  wept  at  night,  and  the  heavens,  as  an 
expression  of  joy,  rained  down  ripe  grain.’  (Preface  to 
Morrison’s  Dictionary.)  There  is  evidence  that  writing 
was  practised  1,740  years  b.c.,  and  it  is  believed  that  it  existed 
in  some  form  3,000  years  B.c. 

It  is  important  to  note,  as  bearing  on  the  question  of 
Chinese  education,  that  the  literary  language,  the  language 
of  hooks,  is  different  from  the  spoken  dialects,  which  are 
numerous ;  and  that  it  differs  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make 
its  acquisition  by  a  native  almost  as  difficult  as  a  foreign 
tongue. 

If  the  unclassified  elements  of  the  language  were  indif¬ 
ferent  to  position  ‘  the  labour  of  arrangement  would  be 
nothing  and  style  impossible.  But  most  of  them  appear  to 
be  endowed  with  a  kind  of  mysterious  polarity,  which  con¬ 
trols  their  collocation  and  renders  them  incapable  of  com¬ 
panionship  except  with  certain  characters,  the  choice  of 
which  would  seem  to  be  altogether  arbitrary.  The  origin 
of  this  peculiarity  it  is  not  difficult  to  discover.  In  this,  as  in 
other  things  among  the  Chinese,  usage  has  become  law. 
Combinations  which  were  accidental  or  optional  with  the 
model  writers  of  antiquity,  and  even  their  errors,  have,  to 
their  imitative  posterity,  become  the  jus  et  norma  loquendi. 
Free  to  move  upon  each  other  when  the  language  was  young 
and  in  a  fluid  state,  its  elements  have  now  become  crystallised 
into  invariable  forms.  To  master  this  pre-established  har¬ 
mony  without  the  aid  of  rules  is  the  fruit  of  practice  and  the 
labour  of  years.’ 1 

General  Character  of  the  Chinese. — The  impression 
made  on  a  stranger  by  the  character  of  the  Chinese  people  is, 
that  it  is  as  a  whole  child-like,  gentle,  kindly,  and  peaceful, 
but  it  is  equally  apparent  that  these  qualities  are  in  union 

1  Han  Lin  Papers. 


THE  URO- ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  107 


with  much  cunning,  suspicion,  trickery,  and  immorality. 
Their  industry  and  contentment  are  marvellous,  and  their 
personal  habits  temperate.  It  does  not  appear  that  respect 
for  self,  and  value  for  self  as  a  personality,  is  a  conception  of 
the  Chinese  mind.  The  ‘  person  ’  is  not  of  the  same  account 
as  among  the  Aryan  races ;  the  family  is  the  governing 
conception.  The  personality  of  the  individual  is  not  only 
overshadowed  by  the  family  and  the  state-machinery, 
but  is  oppressed  also  by  the  spirits  of  the  dead  which  are 
worshipped. 

The  Chinese  have  had  their  civil  revolutions  and  modifica¬ 
tions  of  belief  like  other  people,  but  as  a  whole  they  have 
made  little  or  no  progress  for  more  than  2,000  years  ;  but 
grind  on  as  their  fathers  did  before  them.  Their  enormous 
national  self-conceit  helps  to  prevent  advance.  Philosophic 
speculation  and  physical  science  are  absent.  Literature  is 
in  the  ascendant,  but  it  consists  chiefly  of  a  bald  kind 
of  history,  the  literature  of  the  sacred  books  and  endless 
commentaries  on  them.  Lyric  poetry  is  cultivated  very 
extensively,  and  the  power  of  writing  elegant  verses  in 
good  caligrapliy  is  the  highest  proof  of  learning  and  culture. 
Art,  in  the  higher  sense,  does  not  exist,  although  there  is 
much  skill  and  delicacy  of  execution,  and  considerable  imi¬ 
tative  power.1  At  one  time  the  art  of  landscape  painting 
flourished. 

The  broad  fact  for  us  Europeans  to  recognise  is  that  in 
this  portion  of  Asia  we  have  a  people  of  Mongolian  ex¬ 
traction,  including  about  a  third  of  the  population  of  the 
world,  who,  for  at  least  4,000  years,  have  had  a  settled 
system  of  life  and  government,  and  with  whom  education 
has  always  been  a  matter  of  national  importance  for  nearly 
3,000  years. 


1  There  are  some  men  (who  may  he  called  Sinophils)  who  speak  in  lauda¬ 
tory  terms  of  the  lyrical  literature,  just  as  they  exaggerate  the  intellectual 
power  of  the  Chinese,  but  the  specimens  given,  even  allowing  for  the  difficul¬ 
ties  of  translation,  do  not  justify  their  admiration.  They  read  like  the  Latin 
yerses  of  English  schoolboys.  See  the  collection  of  Romilly  Allen, 


108 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


CHAP.  II.  KELIGION  AND  PHILOSOPHY  OF  LIFE 

Sacred  Books.  —  To  understand  the  Chinese  attitude  of 
mind  we  should  have  to  understand. Confucius^ the  great 
jmoral  and  political  philosopher  and  reformer,  who  was  born 
551  years~RCj  But  the  national  life  did  not  start  with  him. 
The  record  of  his  life  would  itself  show,  even  were  there  no 
native  historical  treatises,  that  China  was  at  the  time  of  his 
birth  a  civilised  country  and  an  organised  government  with 
many  subordinate  governors.  Confucius  himself  is  most 
careful  to  insist  that  he  merely  revives  the  customs  and  be¬ 
liefs  of  his  ancestors.  He  led  a  life  of  noble  example  him¬ 
self  :  at  one  time  held  high  hT  honour,  at  another  "dishonoured 
and  persecuted,  always  suffering  grief  and  disappointment  at 
the  failure  of  his  great  scheme  of  social  reform.  But  he 
professed  no  novelties ;  he  rested  all  his  teaching  on  the 
sacred  books  which  he  edited  with  annotations.  He  did 
not,  however,  alter  them  or  digest  them  into  their  present 
form  (Legge).  His  chief  addition  to  the  practical  philosophy 
of  preceding  ages  was  his  ‘  Doctrine  of  the  Mean.’  The  first 
sentence  of  this  work  is  as  follows :  ‘  What  heaven  has  con¬ 
ferred  is  called  the  nature :  an  accordance  with  this  nature  is 
called  the  path  of  duty :  the  regulation  of  this  path  is  called 
instruction.’  (Legge,  ‘Religions  of  China,’  p.  139.) 

The  earliest  of  the  sacred  books  was  attributed  in  its 
original  form  to  the  first  introducer  of  letters  and  philosophy 
among  the  Chinese,  Fu-hsi,  to  whom  the  date  of  3,323  years 
(less  or  more)  B.c.  is  assigned.  (This,  of  course,  is  legendary.) 
The  next  continuator  after  Confucius  of  the  philosophy  of 
the  sacred  books  was  Mencius,  who  died  317  B.c.  Printing 
from  blocks  of  wood  was  invented  in  the  tenth  century  of 
our  era.  The  issue  of  the  sacred  books  was,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  then  multiplied,  and  much  intellectual  activity  was 
the  result,  as  was  the  case  in  Europe  after  the  invention  of 
printing.  But  all  this  activity  was  still  controlled  by  super¬ 
stitious  reverence  for  the  past  and  merely  took  the  form  of 


THE  URO-ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  109 


a  further  explication  and  evolution  of  accepted  doctrines. 
The  man  who  seems  to  have  gathered  into  a  focus  all  the 
intellectual  activity  of  this  time  was  Chow-Tsze.  This  truly 
eminent  philosopher  exhibited  great  ability  as  an  adminis¬ 
trator,  thinker,  and  writer,  and  the  hooks  issued  by  him,  for 
the  most  part  as  commentaries  on,  and  introductions  to,  the 
sacred  books,  numbered  23.  On  them,  without  derogating 
from  the  primary  authority  of  Confucius,  the  life  of  the  peo¬ 
ple  is  modelled.  He  died  1200  a.d.  His  writings  are  held 
to  contain  the  true  interpretation  of  Chinese  philosophy,  but 
by  no  means  on  that  account  to  supersede  Confucius  and  the 
sacred  books  themselves.  We  must  therefore,  if  we  would 
understand  the  Chinese  people  and  their  education,  form  to 
ourselves  some  idea  of  the  contents  of  these  books.  To 
attempt  an  account  here,  in  any  detail,  would  be  out  of 
place ;  but  we  may  state,  on  the  authority  of  Professors 
Legge,  Douglas,  Tiele  and  others,  all  that  is  necessary  to  our 
purpose  as  students  of  the  educational  system  of  China.1 

The  sacred  books  or  scriptures  of  China  consist  of  ‘  Five 
Classics’  and  ‘Four  Books.’  The  five  classics  are  (‘ Encyc. 
Brit.’):  1.  ‘The  Book  of  Changes’  (Yi-King)  —  seemingly  an 
effort  at  a  kind  of  nature-system  (obscure  magic,  says  Tiele). 
To  this  book  the  date  1150  b.c.  is  assigned  ;  2.  ‘  The  Book 
of  History  ’  (Shu-King)  ;  3.  ‘  The  Book  of  Odes  ’  (Shih-King). 
At  the  time  of  Confucius  there  was  an  official  collection  of 
3,000  odes,  which  he  reduced  to  311,  preserving  chiefly  those 
which  had  a  moral  and  domestic  tendency  and  classifying 
them  under  four  heads  :  (a)  National  airs ;  ( b )  The  lesser 
eulogies  ;  ( c )  The  greater  eulogies  ;  ( d )  The  song  of  homage 
sung  by  or  before  the  emperor  when  he  sacrificed  in  the 
name  of  the  State  as  its  high  priest.  4.  ‘  The  Book  of  Rites  ’ ; 
5.  ‘  Spring  and  Autumn  Annals,’  by  Confucius. 

The  Four  Books  are  of  the  nature  of  exposition  and  com¬ 
mentaries.  (1)  The  Great  Learning ;  (2)  The  doctrine  of 
the  .Mean,  these  two  being  continuous  treatises;  (3)  Con- 

1  I  follow  Legge  where  he  differs  from  Tiele,  and  I  have  paid  due  attention 
to  Martin’s  account. 


110 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


fucian  Analecta,  or  sayings  of  the  master;  (4)  The  works  of 
Mencius,  by  a  pupil  of  that  philosopher. 

Commentaries  on  the  classics  and  books  are  very  numer¬ 
ous  ;  but  all  have  the  same  characteristics  as  the  originals, 
that  is  to  say,  they  are  ‘  servile,’  ‘  iterative,’  ‘  cold,’  ‘  formal.’ 

Philosophical  Attitude~ofLAhe  Chinese  Mind.  —  Like 
most  moral  reformers,  Confucius  was  too  intent  on  the  reno¬ 
vation  of  the  national  life  around  him  to  concern  himself 
deeply  with  those  metaphysical  questions  which  form  so 
perennial  an  attraction  for  the  Indo-European  mind.  It  is 
a  mistake,  however,  to  say  he  was  an  atheist,  unless  we  are  to 
class  as  atheists  men  who,  denying  or  doubting  a  personal 
God,  yet  believe  in  a  great  but  mysterious  power  which  gov¬ 
erns  all..  /That  Confucius  believed  in  a  personal  God  is  not 
apparent,  and  it  is  certain  that  he  purposely  declined  to  go 
far  into  the  discussion  of  such  questions.  Morality,  social 
order,  and  propriety  of  conduct  alone  interestedTnm,  and  this 
’so  profoundly  as  to  exclude  from  his  system  of  practical 
ethics  all  other  subjects.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however, 
thaTlie  believed  in  the  Supreme  One.  It  is  worthy  of  re¬ 
mark,  and,  indeed,  full  of  interest,  that,  in  the  very  sacred 
books  edited  by  him,  there  is  the  recognition  of  a  Supreme 
Being  called  ‘  Supreme  Ruler,’  ‘  Heaven,’  and  ‘  Supreme  or 
Sovereign  Heaven,’  and  Professor  Legge  has  made  it,  I  think, 
evident  that  the  Chinese  were  in  the  earliest  times  —  that  is 
to  say,  the  earliest  historic  times,  Monotheists.  Chow-tze 
did  not  profess  to  originate  a  philosophy,  hut  to  draw  it  from 
the  ancient  books  by  interpretation.  But  it  cannot  he  said 
that  even  in  his  case  the  thought  of  a  personal  God  ever 
occurred.  At  the  beginning  of  all  things  is  what  is  called 
the  ‘  ultimate  principle,’  or  ‘  grand  extreme,’  which  is  imma¬ 
terial,  which  is  spirit,  which,  in  brief,  is  mind.  It  operates 
to  produce  the  world  of  nature  and  man  according  to  an  in¬ 
variable  process.  Dr.  Martin  gives  this  exposition  :  ‘  The 
Infinite  [Great  Extreme]  produced  the  Finite,  and  the  Finite 
produced  Light  and  Darkness.’  The  ‘  ultimate  principle,’  or 
‘  great  extreme,’  is,  however,  frequently  spoken  of  as  if  it  were 


THE  URO- ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  111 


an  independent  entity,  and  sometimes  as  punishing  the  evil 
and  rewarding  the  good.  But  these  are  evidently  figurative 
expressions,  and  the  idea  of  the  Supreme  to  be  found  in 
Chinese  philosophy  is  that  of  a  causal  principle  existing  from 
all  eternity  along  with  the  world  or  nature,  also  existing 
from  all  eternity,  the  latter  exhibiting  the  mode  of  operation 
of  the  ultimate  principle  in  accordance  with  fixed  and  un¬ 
alterable  laws. 

Chinese  philosophy  does  not  affirm  the  great  fact  of  Will 
as  entering  into  the  scheme  of  creation.  Nor  has  the  ‘  ulti¬ 
mate  principle  ’  ethical  attributes.1  Order  is  its  chief  char-j 
acteristic,  and  this  exhibits  itself  in  the  nature  of  man  as 
well  as  in  other  creations,  and  the  holy  man  is  he  who  has  a 
clear  intuition  of  the  ultimate  principle  and  its  ground-pro¬ 
cesses.  Seeing  these  clearly,  he  cannot  err;  knowledge  is_ 
virtue.  The  nature  of  man  is,  to  begin  with,  good  in  itself, 
for  it  is  the  true  product  of  the  heavenly  order.  Chow-tze 
teaches  that  ‘  the  bright  principle  of  virtue  man  derives  from 
his  heavenly  origin,  and  his  pure  spirit  when  undarkened 
comprehends  all  truth,  and  is  adequate  to  every  occasion. 
But  it  is  obstructed  by  the  physical  constitution  and  be¬ 
clouded  by  the  animal  desires  so  that  it  becomes  obscure.’ 
The  moral  character,  to  begin  with,  is  determined  by  the  pre¬ 
vailing  influence  (primordial  harmony  or  gross  matter),  and 
mankind  are  accordingly  divided  into  three  classes  :  ‘  those 
who  are  good  without  teaching,  those  who  may  be  made 
good  by  teaching,  and  those  who  will  remain  bad  in  spite  of 
teaching  *  (Martin,  p.  129). 

Absolute  truth  is  simply  the  course  or  way  of  nature,  and 
he  who  sees  this  has  absolute  truth.  Virtue  is  the  complete 
possession  of  absolute  truth  by  man  ;  and  it  is  by  knowledge 
or  study  that  man  attains  to  truth,  and  so  to  virtue.  Intel¬ 
lect  is  thus  the  basis  of  virtue  and  morality.  Private  and 
political  morality  are  closely 
the  higher  teaching  of  Chi 
conduct  uf  life  and  the  art 

1  I  do  not  suppose  Professor  Legge  would  admit  this. 


connected.  The  whole  aim  of 

-  the—- 


is,  111 


of  government.  Though  China 


112 


PRE-  CHRIST  I  A  N  ED  UCA  TION 


lias  produced  men  differing  in  opinion  as  to  the  foundation  of 
ethics,  they  have  no  speculative  philosophy  in  the  Aryan 
sense.  A  very  interesting  chart  of  Chinese  ethics  will  be 
found  in  Dr.  Martin’s  book  on  education  in  China.  This 
shows  considerable  power  of  orderly  tabular  arrangement  in 
the  classification  of  the  virtues,  but  the  Chinese  mind  is  not, 
even  in  this  its  own  chosen  sphere,  analytic. 

Religion. — There  are  three  religions  in  China:  1.  The 
official  or  state  religion,  already  described  in  the  previous 
section,  viz.  the  ancient  doctrine  of  China  handed  down  from 
remote  antiquity,  revised  by  Confucius  and  commented  on 
by  him,  by  Mencius  and  by  Chow-Tsze.  It  is  essentially  a 
moral  and  political  system,  resting  ultimately,  however,  on  a 
recognition  of  a  Supreme  God  or  Divine  Order.  It  recognises 
this  Being  or  Order  as  a  fact  simply,  and  there  leaves  it, 
lying  outside  daily  life  and  remote  from  men.  Connected 
with  this  official  religion,  however,  there  is  an  annual  cere¬ 
monial  of  worship.  It  is  the  State  not  the  individual,  the 
emperor,  not  as  priest  but  as  representative  of  the  nation, 
who  then  worships  God.  Provincial  governors  also  perform 
the  service  in  the  name  of  the  State.  This  ceremonial  is  in 
honour  of  the  powers  of  nature  and  expresses  the  dependence 
of  man  on  the  order  of  nature,  the  productivity  of  the  soil 
and  the  recurrence  of  the  seasons.  It  is  thus  in  perfect 
harmony  with  Chinese  religious  philosophy,  and  recognises 
the  Supreme  Spirit  in  the  sense  which  I  have  already 
explained.  The  remarkable  prayers  cited  by  Professor  Legge 
0  Religions  of  China,’  p.  43  et  seq.),  which  were  offered  up  at 
the  solstitial  services  of  1538  a.d.,  testify  to  a  pure  and 
exalted  Deism  in  the  mind  of  the  then  emperor,  approximat¬ 
ing  even  to  Theistic  language.  But  with  this  solstitial  cere¬ 
monial  the  Deism  as  a  factor  in  the  life  of  the  Chinese  ends.1 

1  Professor  Legge  says,  p.  114,  that  there  are  numerous  passages  in  the 
ancient  books  speaking  of  Heaven  as  approving  and  disapproving  the  acts  of 
man.  But  neither  in  the  literature  generally  nor  in  the  schoolbooks  is  account 
taken  of  this.  Even  the  verses  quoted  by  Legge  do  not  necessarily  convey 
anything  save  the  general  statement  that  Heaven  is  on  the  side  of  justice  and 


THE  U RO- ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES 


113 


Confucian  polity  and  the  worship  of  ancestors  constitute  the 
genuine  religion  of  the  educated  Chinaman. 

The  official  religion  is  acquiesced  in  by  all ;  hut  in  addi¬ 
tion,  Taoism  and  Buddhism  are  professed  by  the  masses  of 
the  people.  Buddhism  practically  occupies  the  field.  It  is 
an  importation  from  India,  and  as  it  entered  only  in  76  a.d., 
it  found  the  Chinese  national  character  already  formed. 
Taoism,  originally  mystical  and  having  affinities  with  primi¬ 
tive  Buddhism,  has  degenerated  into  a  religion  of  spells  and 
incantations.  The  priests  profess,  like  modern  spiritualists, 
to  hold  communication  with  the  spirits  of  the  dead.  Bud¬ 
dhism,  again,  seems  to  have  degenerated  into  a  system  of 
idol-worship.  Indeed  very  early,  Gautama  Buddha,  the 
founder,  was  himself  worshipped  as  a  god.  The  doctrine  of 
transmigration  which  connects  itself  with  the  more  popular 
form  of  this  religion  would  seem  to  exercise  a  powerful  prac¬ 
tical  influence  on  the  life  of  the  Chinese.  The  doctrine  of 
immortality  is  blank  and  undefined. 

Alongside,  then,  of  the  intellectual  and  purely  politico- 
moral  and  abstract  deism  of  Confucius,  we  find  the  ceremonial 
periodical  nature-worship  by  the  emperor  as  representing  the 
nation ;  the  survival  of  primitive  beliefs  in  various  spirits 
among  the  people;1  along  with  ancestor  worship  (which 
last  is  also  an  integral  part  of  Confucianism)  a  widespread, 
debased,  and  idolatrous  Buddhism,  and  the  magical  practices 
to  which  Taoism  has  degenerated.  These  religions,  satisfy- 

truth.  Yon  Strauss’s  description  of  Chinese  Theism  on  p.  xxvi  of  Allen’s 
translation  of  the  ‘  Book  of  Chinese  Poetry  ’  seems  to  me  to  he  a  devout 
imagination. 

1  These  beliefs  are  probably  a  survival  of  the  primitive  and  prehistoric 
religion  of  China,  which,  Tiele  holds,  was  a  purified  and  organised  worship  of 
spirits,  including  the  spirits  of  the  dead.  The  spirits  to  be  worshipped  were 
without  number.  They  reside  in  visible  objects,  and  also  assume  the  form  of 
animals.  A  popular  religion  of  this  sort  might  easily  run  parallel  with  the 
higher  and  better  tradition  represented  by  Confucianism,  and,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  it  does  so.  The  popular  necessities  have  also  found  satisfaction  in  Bud¬ 
dhism  and  Taoism,  neither  of  which  excludes  the  State  religion.  Even  in  the 
State  religion  there  is  a  curious  mixture  of  pure  Confucianism  with  nature- 
worship  and  the  worship  of  certain  recognised  gods. 

8 


114 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


ing,  as  they  do,  by  means  of  idols  and  communication  with 
the  unseen  world,  the  need  of  man  for  an  ever-present  power 
interested  and  concerned  in  his  destiny,  are  found  to  be 
compatible  with  a  belief  in  the  governing  intellectual  theory 
of  life  and  society. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  ordinary  Chinaman  is  a 
Buddhist  in  the  monastic  sense.  This  philosophy  of  religious 
ecstatic  atheism  is  reserved  for  a  few  in  those  sequestered 
monasteries  and  temples,  where,  in  disdain  of  life,  they 
endeavour,  by  endless  repetitions  of  liturgical  pieces  and  a 
strenuous  thinking  of  Nothing,  to  realise  a  condition  which  is 
neither  life  nor  death,  in  the  hope  of  ultimately  attaining  the 
nothingness  of  Nirvana.  The  common  man  worships  in  the 
numerous  temples  the  goddess  of  mercy  and  many  idols 
besides,  including  the  idols  of  the  past  and  the  present,  hop¬ 
ing  through  their  aid  and  by  works  of  merit  to  secure  for 
himself  happy  transmigrations,  if  nothing  more. 

The  genuine  Confucian  Chinese  believe  that  convulsions  of 
nature,  epidemics,  &c.,  are  indications  of  something  wrong  in 
the  administration  of  government ;  but  this  not  from  any 
belief  that  providence  interferes  to  punish  but  purely  from 
the  conviction  that  a  disturbance  of  the  natural  order  is 
indicative  of  a  disturbance  in  the  social  order.1 

Man,  they  hold,  stands  in  the  midst  between  heaven  and 
earth  to  preserve  the  equipoise  of  the  whole  and  to  bear  the 
burden  of  the  moral  world-order.  By  keeping  the  middle  or 
mean  himself,  he  can  alone  succeed  in  discharging  his  world 
functions.  This  religion  of  the  more  educated  classes  has 
formed  the  character  of  the  people.  To  take  care  that  this 
right  mean  is  observed  is  the  grand  duty  of  the  emperor,  the 
great  son  of  heaven,  the  god  on  earth  who  as  father  of  his 
people,  not  as  a  despot,  orders  and  governs  all  human  institu- 

1  Although  it  is  true  that  there  is  no  State  priesthood,  there  are  yet  ‘  pro¬ 
fessors  of  ceremonies  *  appointed  and  paid  by  the  State  to  regulate  public 
ceremonial  acts  of  worship,  &c.  Many  such  men  also  are  employed  by  the 
people  on  all  important  ceremonial  occasions,  that  everything  may  be  done  in 
order.  They  live  by  fees. 


THE  URO-ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  115 

tions  by  means  of  laws  which  bear  on  every  department  and 
act  of  life ;  and  he  is  aided  by  a  graded  and  countless  num¬ 
ber  of  subordinate  administrators. 

We  see  in  all  races  that  the  higher  form  of  their  religion 
is  quite  compatible  with  a  worship  of  gods,  demons,  and 
spirits,  also  with  what  might  be  called  subordinate  religious 
beliefs  which  are  considered  not  to  conflict  with  the  govern¬ 
ing  system.  These  are,  doubtless,  survivals  of  more  bar¬ 
barous  times.  This  compatibility  of  the  higher  with  the 
lower  is  specially  characteristic  of  the  Chinese.  But  what¬ 
ever  may  be  the  private  superstitions  of  the  people,  this  is 
certain,  that  it  is  Confucianism  which  is  the  State  church, 
and  that  the  whole  life  of  the  Chinese  is  not  only  influenced 
but  controlled  by  Confucian  ideas.  One  result  is  that  gods 
and  ancestors  are  worshipped  with  a  view  to  material  security 
alone,  and  that  there  is  no  ideal  of  life  possible  higher  than 
prosaic  prudential  Confucianism. 

Let  us  now  endeavour  to  bring  together  the  governing 
conceptions  which  seem  to  constitute  the  motive-forces  of 
Chinese  life. 

CHAP.  III.  THE  DOMINANT  IDEAS  OF  CHINESE  LIFE 

(1)  The  brief  survey  which  we  have  given  justifies  us,  I 
think,  in  concluding  that  the  idea  of  Order  as  established 
and  maintained  by  a  Supreme  Principle  or  Mind,  is  the  foun¬ 
dation  of  all  Chinese  thought  and  life ;  and  if  we  realise  to 
ourselves  the  influence  which  a  conception  so  barren  and 
cold  must  exercise  on  political  doctrines  and  social  customs, 
we  have  made  one  step  towards  the  understanding  of  this 
remarkable  people. 

(2)  The  next  idea  animating  these  masses  of  men  is  that 
of  reverence  for  the  past,  which  exhibits  itself  in  two  forms, 
a  superstitious  regard  for  all  past  thought,  and  a  reverence 
for  ancestors  which  Takes  the  form  of  worship..  Antiquity 
Ts  in  fact  the  guarantee  for  truth  —  constitutes  in  itself  an 
infallible  guide.  Even  the  members  of  the  Han-lin  or  Im- 


116 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


perial  Academy,  comprising  the  select  men  of  the  empire 
and  residing  at  Peking,  ‘  do  nothing  to  extend  the  bounda¬ 
ries  of  human  knowledge,  simply  because  they  are  not  aware 
that  after  the  achievements  of  Confucius  and  the  ancient 
sages  any  new  world  remains  to  be  conquered.’  (Martin, 
p.  24.) 

(3)  In  a  nation  in  which  the  idea  of  the  world-order 
seems  to  have  first  found  expression  in  the  sanctity  of  tire 
fain  i  1  y  relationship ,  family  life,  as  the  centre  of  all  social 
order  and  civic  union,  is  held  m  the  highest  veneration.  The 
father  has  absolute  power  over  his  children^  and  the  children 
must  render  unquestioning  obedience.  The  family,  indeed^ 
is  the  centre  of  the  moral,  as  well  as  the  social  and _politicalv 
life  of  the  nation.  Uut  of  ik  all  virtues  grow,  and  on  it  the 
jxlea  of  the  State  is  supposed  to  be  modelled. ,  The  State  is 
only  a  largely  developed  family.  The  emperor  is  the  head 
of  this  large- family  of  officials  and  of  citizens,  and  having, 
like  a  father,  the  power  of  life  and  death,  commands  and 
receives  absolute  obedience.  Marriage,  as  might  readily  be 
supposed,  is  held  to  be  a  sacred  institution,  and  a  civil  duty 
imposed  on  every  man.  (Concubines  are  allowed,  but  their 
children  have  not  the  same  family  privileges  as  those  of  the 
legitimate  wife.)  The  relation  of  the  wife  to  the  husband 
is  that  of  practical  slavery.1  The  family  idea  is,  of  course, 
sustained  and  intensified  by  the  worship  of  ancestors.  There 
seems,  however,  to  be  an  element  of  fear  in  this  quite  as 
much  as  of  respect  or  affection.  The  dead  spirits  may 
exercise  a  hurtful  influence  on  their  descendants  if  they  are 
neglected.  They  are  supposed  to  continue  their  interest  in 
the  affairs  of  their  families,  and  may  even  be  reborn  into 
them.  The  Chinaman  as  a  member  of  a  family  is  thus  in 

1  Even  at  birth  the  inferiority  of  the  woman  to  the  man  is  signalised. 
When  a  boy  is  born,  a  bow  and  arrow  are  hung  before  the  door  and  he  is 
wrapt  in  the  finest  clothes  that  can  be  had  ;  when  a  girl  is  born,  the  spindle 
and  yarn  are  hung  up,  and  any  old  rags  are  considered  good  enough  for 
her.  If  a  father  is  asked  how  many  children  he  has,  he  counts  only  his 
sons. 


THE  URO-ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  117 


close  union  with  the  past  and  future  of  his  race,  as  well  as 
with  the  present.1 

(4)  Prudential  virtue  usurps  the  place  of  the  ideal  and 
spiritual  in  the  Chinese  mind.  The  family  idea,  as  may  he 
easily  understood,  enters  into  and  powerfully  influences  the 
system  of  morality.  For,  defective  as  some  of  the  family 
relations  are,  the  family  bond  is  intensely  strong,  and  the 
sentiment  of  the  people  gathers  round  the  nearest  and  dearest 
relations  of  life,  and  does  not  much  extend  to  spheres  beyond. 
Thus  it  is  said :  ‘  If  a  man  will  attain  to  the  completed  per¬ 
fection  of  his  nature,  he  must  begin  with  the  five  relations 
of  human  society  —  king  and  subject,  father  and  son,  elder 
and  younger  brother,  husband,  wife,  friends  —  and  practise 
the  usual  daily  virtues.  When  the  customary  and  easy 
virtues  are  neglected  there  is  no  possibility  of  attaining  to 
the  completed  perfection  of  our  nature.’ 

No  exception  can  be  taken  to  the  moral  teaching  of  the 
authoritative  books.  ‘  Heaven  produces  all  men,  and  points 
out  for  them  their  duties,  for  the  fulfilment  of  which  also  it 
gives  them  the  means.’  Again  :  ‘  He  who  renders  obedience 
to  heaven  will  be  sustained :  he,  on  the  other  hand,  who 

Ife*.  * 

resists  heaven  will  perish.’  Beasts  have  no  spirit  or  mind 
we  are  also  told :  man  alone  has  spirit.  ‘  All  men,’  'says 
Mencius,  ‘  have  a  compassionate  heart ;  all  men  have  a  heart 
which  is  ashamed  of  vice ;  all  men  have  a  heart  naturally 

1  Tablets,  almost  always  pieces  of  wood,  four  to  seven  by  two  to  three 
inches,  are  fixed  into  niches  in  the  wall  of  a  room.  The  name  of  the  father 
is  carved  or  painted  on  them,  and  to  this  the  assembled  family  offer  incense, 
and  on  great  occasions  sacrifice  food  of  various  kinds.  Other  tablets  of  more 
remote  ancestors  are  similarly  preserved  and  worshipped.  Wealthy  families, 
who  have  large  connections,  erect  ancestral  halls,  in  which  ancestral  tablets 
are  placed,  and  to  which  at  stated  times  worship  and  sacrifice  are  offered. 
This  illustrates  well  the  intensity  of  the  family  idea.  The  worship  of  ances¬ 
tors  can  only  be  conducted  by  the  males  (females  may  marry  into  other 
families  and  cannot  be  depended  on).  Hence,  partly,  the  superiority  of  boys 
to  girls.  A  man  who  has  no  boy  adopts  one  rather  than  run  the  risk  of  hav¬ 
ing  himself  and  his  ancestors  neglected  —  a  fate  which  seems  to  involve 
absolute  death  or  annihilation,  and  which  is  escaped  as  long  as  they  are 
worshipped. 


118  PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 

disposed  to  pay  respect  and  reverence ;  all  men  have  a  heart 
which  can  distinguish  between  right  and  wrong:  these 
virtues  do  not  come  from  without,  they  are  an  essential  part 
of  our  constitution.’  ‘  If  a  man  uses  his  understanding  he 
will  find  the  right  way :  if  a  man  does  not  use  his  under¬ 
standing  he  will  not  find  it.  Let  no  one  he  afflicted  because 
of  his  want  of  strength  ;  the  fault  lies  in  failure  to  practise.’ 
These  moral  propositions  and  many  others  are  not  allowed 
to  rest  in  the  sacred  books  and  the  commentaries  on  them, 
and  he  read  when  and  where  the  people  choose ;  they  are 
thoroughly  mastered  and,  to  a  great  extent,  learnt  by  heart 
in  all  schools,  and  by  all  candidates  for  the  public  service. 
They  constitute  the  national  creed  and  the  national  con¬ 
science.  They  have  been  the  means  of  creating,  and  sustain¬ 
ing  for  probably  4,000  years,  a  fairly  efficient  social  system. 

(5)  A  love  of  formalism  is  strong  in  the  Chinese  mind. 
This  is  very  prominent  in  the  mass  of  ritual  ceremonies  in 
which  the  moral  and  social  life  of  the  Chinese  is  enveloped. 
The  Book  of  Rites  is  one  of  the  sacred  hooks,  and  contains 
directions  for  the  acts  of  daily  life  in  the  family  and  in  the 
State,  and  is  also  a  manual  of  etiquette.  All  this  is  carefully 
mastered  by  those  who  affect  to  be  educated.  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  forms  and  ceremonies  tend  to  give  perma¬ 
nence  to  institutions,  while  they  at  the  same  time  tend  to 
deprive  them  of  true  vitality.  Hence,  partly,  the  stereotyped 
civilisation  of  China ;  practical  virtue  becomes  almost  iden¬ 
tical  with  ‘propriety’  and  convention. 

As  an  explanation  of  the  remarkable  permanence  of 
Chinese  life  and  polity  we  may  point  to  the  conservative 
character  of  the  dominant  ideas  and  to  the  influence  of  an 
ideographic  language  in  restricting  the  free  play  of  mind. 
It  may  also  be  held  that  the  longer  the  period  during  which 
the  same  ‘  set  ’  of  mind,  the  same  habit  of  thought  and 
action,  continues  in  a  nation,  the  more  certain  becomes  the 
tendency  to  repetition,  unless  some  very  powerful  force 
intervene.  This  doctrine  of  heredity  in  nations  must  never 
be  lost  sight  of.  Again,  it  may  be  said  that  a  nation  so 


THE  URO- ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  119 


large,  if  it  once  becomes  the  victim  of  a  system,  tends  to 
perpetuate  itself  in  the  future  as  it  has  been  in  the  past, 
because  the  dead  weight  of  the  whole  is  so  great  as  to  repress 
the  parts.  This  specially  happens  where  the  political  form 
of  life  is  a  highly  centralised  form :  and  a  large  empire  is 
necessarily  centralised  where  it  is  not  a  mere  federation. 
Further,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  Chinese  have  been  so 
placed  geographically  as  to  be  cut  off  from  intercommunica¬ 
tion  with  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  wonderful  variety  of 
their  climate  and  productions,  moreover,  has  not  made  such 
communication  necessary.  In  so  far  as  they  have  had  inter¬ 
course,  it  has  been  of  a  kind  to  drive  them  back  on  their  own 
national  life,  to  hug  (so  to  speak)  their  own  form  of  civilisa¬ 
tion.  It  is  on  the  west  and  north  that  they  had  in  old  times 
intercourse  with  others :  this  intercourse  was  of  a  very 
unpleasant  kind,  and  led,  in  fact,  to  their  building  the  Great 
Wall. 

All  these  elements  furnish,  it  seems  to  me,  subsidiary 
explanations  of  the  prosaic  continuity  of  the  Chinese  life. 
However  it  may  be,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  supreme 
rule  of  life  among  the  Chinese  is  ‘  Walk  in  the  trodden 
paths/  that  their  philosophy  of  religion  necessarily  points 
to  a  first  principle  of  world-order,  and  presumes  a  Deity  to 
be  invoked  and  thanked,  but  not  propitiated  and  influenced 
—  a  cosmic  machine  remote  from  and  indifferent  to  man ; 
that  their  morality  is  a  shrewd  dogmatism,  traditionary  and 
preceptive,  not  reasoned ;  and  that  their  complicated  ceremo¬ 
nial  is  the  outer  garment  of  a  fixed  and  imperious  social 
and  political  system.  Everything  thus  tends  to  fixedness 
and  order,  to  a  statical  rather  than  a  dynamical  social  and 
civil  life. 

I  am  perfectly  well  aware  that,  if  we  take  a  period  of  4,000 
years,  China  has  passed  through  many  changes  and  has  not 
been  unprogressive  in  politics  or  the  arts.  It  is  also  true 
that  in  ethics  one  or  two  sages  have  reached  a  higher  level 
than  the  traditionary  creed.  But  one  swallow  does  not 
make  a  summer ;  and,  taking  China  from  the  time  of  Con- 


120 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


fucius  onwards,  I  fail  to  see  any  signs  of  progress  in  tlie 
essential  thought  and  life-standard  of  the  nation.  The  grad¬ 
ual  development  of  the  educational  machinery  will  be 
adverted  to  below.  It  appears  to  me,  surveying  the  history 
of  nations,  that  there  is  a  vital  connection  between  constitu¬ 
tional  freedom  and  movement:  whether  that  movement  be 
progressive  or  retrogressive  is  another  question. 

It  is  quite  conceivable,  however,  that,  spite  of  the  potent 
ideas  which  underlie  and  sustain  the  vast  network  of  admin¬ 
istration  and  its  centralisation  in  an  emperor,  the  unwieldy 
social  system  might  break  up  under  a  heavy  strain  and  per¬ 
haps  revert  to  anarchy,  were  it  not  for  two  things :  first,  the 
universal  self-centredness  and  self-government  of  the  family 
and  the  consequent  restricted  view  of  life  and  its  possibili¬ 
ties  ;  and,  secondly,  the  educational  system  which  carefully 
trains  the  people  in  the  way  they  should  go,  and  which  pro¬ 
vides  a  governing  aristocracy  of  intellect  that  commands  the 
respect  of  the  masses,  while  opening  out  a  career  to  all  who 
have  the  capacity  to  enter  on  it. 


CHAP.  IV.  THE  EDUCATIONAL  SYSTEM 


‘  Employ  the  able  and  promote  the  worthy.’  —  Old  Chinese,  Maxim 

1.  Its  general  character  and  aim 

Let  us  now  summarise  the  chief  governing  principles  of 
Chinese  life.  (1)  The  idea  of  order  and  static  equilibrium. 
(2)  The  idea  of  the  family  as  sacred  and  inviolable,  and 
in  connection  with  this  of  social  duties  as  constituting  the 

o 

sum  of  morality  —  a  system  preceptive,  prosaic,  and  desti¬ 
tute  of  all  idealism.  (3)  The  worship  of  ancestors,  and, 
as  inherent  in  this,  a  profound  reverence  for  the  past  system 
of  things.  (4)  An  elaborate  ceremonial  (a  kind  of  ritual  of 
social  life)  as  tending  to  confirm  and  perpetuate  the  first 
and  second,  and,  in  fact,  essential  to  that  end.  The  word 
*  propriety  ’  seems  to  sum  up  the  externalities  of  the  moral 
relation  and,  in  fact,  to  be  almost  synonymous  with  moral- 


THE  URO-ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  121 


ity  itself.  All  these  governing  principles,  it  is  evident,  are 
intensely  conservative  in  their  character  and  effect. 

Now,  the  object  of  the  Chinese  government  in  construct¬ 
ing  its  educational  machinery  was,  doubtless^  to  preserve  all 
these  characteristics :  but  they  had  also  in  view  the  welding 
together  of  fHe-vasF’  and  varied  mass  of  population  in  one 
common  interest,  thereby  satisfying  the  democratic  instinct 
under  an  absolute  imperial  system.  While  the  chief  object 
of  all  learning  in  China  is,  as  I  have  saidt  the  art  of  govern¬ 
ment  and  the  art  of  life,  it  has  to  be  admitted  that  a  sub¬ 
ordinate  object  with  many  of  the  emperors  has  also  been 
the  cultivation  of  literary  attainment  for  its  own  sake. 

To  accomplish  their  educational  purposes  the  Chinese 
did  not  institute  schools.  A  State  system  of  schools  and 
colleges  diffused  among  400,000,000  (?)  of  people  would 
have  been  a  mighty  administrative  task.  The  governing 
authorities  thought  that  enough  was  done  if  they  encour¬ 
aged  education  by  confining  the  whole  civil  service  of  the 
country,  and  indeed  all  positions  of  honour,  to  those  highly 
educated.  The  old  feudalism  had  given  place  to  the  practical 
equality  of  each  citizen  under  the  emperor,  and  government 
henceforth  was  to  be  through  literate,  not  hereditary,  chiefs. 

The  state  contented  itself,  accordingly,  with  instituting 
a  board  of  examiners,  the  controllers  of  which  were  the 
Han-lin  or  Academicians  of  Peking  —  an  order  of  distinc¬ 
tion  and  power,  into  which  only  the  most  learned  could 
hope  for  admission.  The  board  organised  periodical  exam¬ 
inations  of  all  who  chose  to  present  themselves ;  and  only 
the  sons  of  barbers  and  players,  and  one  or  two  other  classes, 
were  to  be  excluded  from  competition. 

The  present  system  was  fully  organised  only  a.d.  700 
(Morrison) ;  but  from  the  time  of  Confucius  education  was 
general  throughout  China.  Nay,  long  before  his  time  there 
were  schools,  and  education  held  a  high  place  in  the  esteem 
of  all  the  thoughtful  and  governing  men.  (Plath,  ‘  Ueber 
Schulunterricht  und  Erzieliungbei  den  alten  Chinesen,5  1868.) 
Biot  gives  an  historical  account  of  the  fluctuations  of  the 


122 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


educational  system  of  China.  From  this  account  we  learn 
that  the  Chinese  from  the  earliest  times,  certainly  from  nearly 
2,000  years  B.C.,  attached  the  highest  value  to  school  educa¬ 
tion.  Colleges  and  schools  were  the  care  of  the  governing 
powers ;  and  to  these  (Professor  Legge  says)  the  sons  of  the 
feudal  lords  were  sent.  It  was  at  a  period  of  degeneracy  that 
Confucius  wrote.  His  aim,  and  that  of  his  followers,  was  to 
substitute  personal  merit  for  hereditary  claims  to  office,  and 
to  throw  open  all  administrative  positions  to  those  who  could 
win  them  in  open  intellectual  competition.  This  was  a 
democratic  movement.  The  competitive  system  may  be  said 
to  date  from  the  second  century  B.c.  (p.  127,  Biot),  but  it  had 
varying  fortunes  before  it  was  finally  organised  800  years 
thereafter.  It  appears  from  old  laws  that  the  ruling  dynasty 
of  Manchu  was  not  at  first  favourable  to  the  literary  hierarchy. 
So  recently  as  1726,  indeed,  the  emperor  stopped  the  ex¬ 
aminations,  because  he  said  two  of  the  literati  had  slandered 
him ;  and  in  an  edict  passed  on  that  occasion,  he  pointed  out 
that  the  object  of  government  in  supporting  the  literati  was, 
not  to  elicit  ‘  skill  in  letters,  but  to  teach  the  people  to 
recognise  and  obey  their  princes  and  fathers.’ 

The  following  brief  survey  of  the  history  of  examinations 
in  China  is,  I  believe,  substantially  correct :  —  ‘So  early  as  at 
the  commencement  of  the  Chow  dynasty,  B.c.  1115,  the  gov¬ 
ernment  was  accustomed  to  examine  candidates  for  offices ; 
and  this  time  we  are  not  left  in  doubt  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
examination.  The  Chinese  had  become  a  cultivated  people, 
and  we  are  informed  that  all  candidates  for  office  were  re¬ 
quired  to  give  proof  of  their  acquaintance  with  the  fine  arts, 
viz.  music,  archery,  horsemanship,  writing  and  arithmetic, 
and  to  be  thoroughly  versed  in  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of 
public  and  social  life,  an  accomplishment  that  ranked  as  a 
sixth  art.  These  six  arts,  expressed  in  the  concise  formula, 
li,  yo,  shay ,  yu ,  shu ,  su,  comprehended  the  sum  total  of  a 
liberal  education  at  the  period,  and  remind  us  of  the  trivium 
and  quadrivium  of  mediaeval  schools. 


THE  URO- ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES 


123 


‘  Under  the  dynasty  of  Han,  after  the  lapse  of  another 
thousand  (900  ? )  years,  we  find  the  range  of  subjects  for  the 
civil  service  examinations  largely  extended.  The  Confucian 
ethics  had  become  current,  and  a  moral  standard  was  regarded 
in  the  selection  of  the  competitors,  the  district  magistrate 
being  required  to  send  up  to  the  capital  such  men  as  had 
acquired  a  reputation  for  hiao  and  lien  —  filial  piety  and 
integrity  —  the  Chinese  rightly  considering  that  the  faithful 
performance  of  domestic  and  social  duties  is  the  best  guaran¬ 
tee  for  fidelity  in  public  life.  These  hiao-lien ,  these  “  filial 
sons  and  honest  subjects,”  whose  moral  characters  had  been 
sufficiently  attested,  were  now  subjected  to  trial  in  respect  to 
their  intellectual  qualifications.  The  trial  was  twofold,  first 
as  to  their  skill  in  the  six  arts  already  mentioned,  and 
secondly  as  to  their  familiarity  with  one  or  more  of  the 
following  subjects,  the  civil  law,  military  affairs,  agriculture, 
the  administration  of  the  revenue,  and  the  geography  of  the 
empire,  with  special  reference  to  the  state  of  the  water  com¬ 
munications.  This  was  an  immense  advance  on  the  meagre 
requirements  of  the  more  ancient  dynasties. 

‘  Passing  over  another  thousand  (900  ? )  years,  we  come  to 
the  era  of  the  Tangs  and  the  Sungs,  about  700  a.d.,  when  we 
find  the  standard  of  literary  attainment  greatly  elevated,  the 
graduates  arranged  in  three  classes  and  officials  in  nine,  a 
classification  which  is  still  retained. 

‘  Arriving  at  the  close  of  the  fourth  millennium,  under  the 
sway  of  the  Mings  and  Tsings  of  the  present  day,  we  find 
the  simple  trials  instituted  by  Shun  expanded  into  a  colossal 
system  which  may  well  claim  to  be  the  growth  of  four  thou¬ 
sand  years.  It  still  exhibits  the  features  that  were  prominent 
in  its  earlier  stages,  the  “  six  arts,”  the  “  five  studies  ”  and  the 
“  three  degrees  ”  remaining  as  records  of  its  progressive 
development. 

‘  Scholarship  is  a  very  different  thing  now  from  what  it 
was  in  those  ruder  ages  when  books  were  few,  and  the  harp, 
the  bow,  and  the  saddle  divided  the  student’s  time  with  the 


124 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


oral  instructions  of  some  famous  master.  Each  century  has 
added  to  the  weight  of  his  burden,  and  to  the  “  heir  of  all  the 
ages”  each  passing  generation  has  bequeathed  a  legacy  of 
toil.  Doomed  to  live  among  the  deposits  of  a  buried  world, 
and  contending  with  millions  of  competitors,  the  intending 
candidate  can  hardly  hope  for  success  without  devoting  him¬ 
self  to  a  life  of  unremitting  study.  True,  he  is  not  called 
upon  to  extend  his  researches  beyond  the  limits  of  his 
national  literature,  but  that  is  all  but  infinite.  It  costs  him, 
at  the  outset,  years  of  labour  to  get  possession  of  the  key 
that  unlocks  it,  for  the  learned  language  is  totally  distinct 
from  his  vernacular  dialect,  and  justly  regarded  as  the  most 
difficult  of  the  languages  of  man.  Then  he  must  commit  to 
memory  the  whole  circle  of  the  recognised  classics  and  make 
himself  familiar  with  the  best  writers  of  every  age  of  a  coun¬ 
try  which  is  no  less  prolific  in  books  than  in  men.  No 
doubt,  his  course  of  study  is  too  purely  literary  and  too 
exclusively  Chinese,  but  it  is  not  superficial.  In  a  popular 
“  Student’s  Guide  ”  we  lately  met  with  a  course  of  reading 
drawn  up  for  thirty  years  !  ’ 1 

The  competition  is  so  close  that  it  is  impossible  for  those 
under  preparation  to  study  any  subject  except  that  which  the 
State  prescribes. 

While  it  is  generally  correct  to  say  that  all  State  offices 
are  reserved  for  those  who  go  through  the  complete  Chinese 
curriculum  and  pass  the  examinations,  it  has  to  be  noted 
that  there  is  at  Peking  a  State-supported  college  for  the 
special  instruction  of  the  sons  of  high  officials  and  of  the 
Manchu  governing  and  military  class,  and  that  the  pupils  of 
this  institution  are  afterwards  employed  in  the  public  ser¬ 
vice.  Dr.  Morrison  says  that  the  examination  of  members  of 
the  imperial  dynasty  is  a  mockery. 

It  sometimes  happens  also  that  for  eminent  social  position 
or  public  services,  a  high  degree  and  corresponding  rank  may 

1  From  Han  Lin  Papers ;  or,  Essays  on  the  Intellectual  Life  of  the  Chinese, 
pp.  56-9,  by  W.  A.  P.  Martin,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of  the  Sungwen 
College,  Peking. 


THE  URO-ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  125 


be  conferred,  although  the  recipient  is  not  a  literate.  Pro¬ 
fessor  Douglas  says  that  there  is  a  large  number  of  mandarins 
of  different  grades  who  have  received  their  titles  for  public 
services. 

Mr.  Wells  Williams1  maintains  that  the  examinations  are 
not  always  purely  conducted,  and  that  bribes  are  frequently 
conveyed  by  wealthy  candidates  to  the  examiners.  The 
lowest  degree,  especially,  is  frequently  obtained  by  influence. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  of  this.  Even  the  second  degree  is 
sometimes  obtained  by  bribery,  and  the  smuggling  of  essays 
into  the  examination  halls  connived  at.  Indeed,  there  is  a 
regular  scale  of  charges  for  successful  fraudulent  assistance 
or  personation.2 

For  the  examinations  which  are  graded,  and  which  I  shall 
immediately  describe,  the  people  prepare  themselves.  It 
would  appear,  however,  that  government  public  schools  ex¬ 
isted  nearly  4,000  years  ago,  for  in  the  Book  of  Bites  it  is 
said  that  ‘  for  the  purposes  of  education  among  the  ancients, 
villages  had  their  schools,  districts  their  academies,  depart¬ 
ments  their  colleges,  and  principalities  their  universities.’  3 
Schools  are  set  up  by  adventure  teachers  in  every  part  of 
China  proper,  many  families,  however,  preferring  to  employ 
private  tutors.  M.  Simon,  in  a  recent  book,  tells  us  that  col¬ 
leges  under  the  direction  of  the  central  academy  still  exist, 
but  the  people  do  not  seem  to  take  advantage  of  them.  The 
Chinese  young  man  prefers  coaching  establishments  to  edu¬ 
cational  institutions ;  and,  where  a  master  has  gained  a 
reputation  for  skill  in  teaching,  many  pupils  gather  round 
him  to  prepare  for  examination.  Such  private  colleges  are 
numerous.  Nor  are  the  public  colleges  so  deserted  as  M. 
Simon  represents,  if  we  are  to  believe  others.  The  teachers 
of  these  are  paid  by  the  State,  and  admission  to  training  is 
by  competitive  examination.  Thus  men  and  boys  who  are 
too  poor  to  pay  for  their  education  have  a  chance  afforded 
them  (Doolittle). 

1  The  Middle  Kingdom.  2  Doolittle. 

3  Quoted  by  Mr.  Williams,  i.  421. 


126 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Education  in  any  form  whatsoever  cannot  be  said  to  reach 
the  lowest  stratum  of  the  population.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  certain  that  all  have  the  opportunity  (if  they 
have  the  pecuniary  means)  of  acquiring  the  knowledge 
requisite  for  the  State  examinations. 

Given  the  stimulus  in  the  shape  of  the  wealth  and  rank 
of  official  station,  the  practical  results  in  China  appear  to  be, 
that  the  people  find  they  can  educate  themselves  better  than 
the  government  can  educate  them.  Mr.  Meadows  holds 
that  the  institution  of  public  service  examinations  (which 
have  been  always  strictly  competitive)  is  the  cause  of  the 
continued  duration  of  the  Chinese  nation ;  it  is  that  which 
preserves  the  other  causes  and  gives  efficacy  to  their  opera¬ 
tion.  By  it  all  parents  throughout  the  country  who  can 
compass  the  means  of  imparting  to  their  sons  a  knowledge 
of  their  country’s  literature  do  so.  A  most  important  result 
is  this,  that  the  poorest  man  in  China  is  constrained  to  say, 
if  his  lot  in  life  be  lowly,  that  it  is  so  by  the  4  will  of 
heaven,’  and  not  through  any  unjust  barriers  or  disqualifi¬ 
cations  erected  by  his  fellow-men. 

2.  The  external  organisation  of  the  examination-system 

The  so-called  districts  of  China  are  about  the  size  of  an 
average  English  county.  These  are  presided  over  by  a  civil 
mandarin.  He  is  assisted  by  subordinate  mandarins,  among 
whom  are  two  educational  mandarins. 

Several  districts  together  are  grouped  as  departments  (the 
average  being  six  districts  to  a  department),  at  the  head  of 
which  is  the  departmental  judge  or  prefect,  and  his  resi¬ 
dence  is  known  as  the  departmental  city.  These  depart¬ 
ments  again  are  grouped  —  usually  three  of  them  —  into 
circuits,  at  the  head  of  which  is  a  high  officer  called  inten- 
dant  (Taou-tae)  —  the  lowest  official  who  has  power  over 
the  action  of  the  military. 

The  officials  above-named  are  all  distributed  through  the 
provinces,  and  at  the  head  of  each  province  is  a  viceroy. 


THE  URO-ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  127 


The  viceroy  is  not  only  at  the  head  of  the  civil  adminis¬ 
tration  of  the  province,  but  also  controls  the  military,  and 
has  a  general  supervision.  In  fact,  the  provinces  are  vir¬ 
tually  self-governing,  but  subject  to  the  supreme  imperial 
authority.1  The  viceroy  is  empowered  to  communicate 
with  the  emperor  and  the  cabinet  council  direct,  and  he 
has  the  power  of  suspending  all  the  mandarins  in  the  cir¬ 
cuits,  departments,  and  districts  of  his  province.  Under 
this  powerful  viceroy  there  are  three  high  officials :  the 
finance  superintendent,  the  judicial  head  or  chief  justice, 
and  the  provincial  educational  examiner.  There  are  thus 
(i),  districts ;  (2),  departments ;  (3),  circuits ;  (4),  pro¬ 
vinces  ;  all  under  the  emperor  and  his  cabinet  council. 

The  system  of  examination  runs  parallel,  to  a  large  extent, 
with  the  civil  divisions  of  the  country ;  and  at  the  head  of 
the  whole  educational  administration  is  the  Academy  of 
Han-lin  at  Peking,  to  which  I  have  already  adverted.  ‘  It 
numbers/  says  M.  Simon,  ‘232  members  recruited  by  them¬ 
selves  from  among  the  literati.  The  State  guarantees  to 
each  of  them  the  use  of  a  house  and  garden,  with  a  small 
money  allowance.’  There  are  also  ancient  endowments. 
‘It  is  entirely  independent  of  the  government,  in  spite  of 
the  assistance  rendered,  which  cannot  be  withdrawn.’  Not 
only  does  this  Academy  control  the  educational  examina¬ 
tions  of  the  country,  but  it  is  virtually  a  kind  of  privy 
council  advising  the  emperor.  Forty  of  their  number  con¬ 
stitute  a  court  of  censors  and  supervise  (Simon)  both  the 
public  and  private  life  of  the  emperor.  Fifty-six  censors 
also  are  distributed  through  the  country,  says  Douglas. 
They  are  understood  to  expose  all  cases  of  maladministra¬ 
tion.  Members  of  the  court  are  also  sent  on  special  mis¬ 
sions  to  inquire  into  grievances,  &c.  Others  have  the  charge 
of  the  public  records. 

1  The  provincial  cities  may  have  a  population  of  from  500,000  to  3,000,000 
people. 


128 


PRE-  CHRISTIAN  ED UCA  TION 


3.  The  examinations 1 

(1)  Preliminary  examinations  are  conducted  in  the  dis¬ 
tricts  or  counties  by  the  educational  mandarins.  These 
‘  preliminaries  ’  are  two  in  number  (Plath). 

(2)  Those  who  pass  the  preliminary  examinations  then  go 
forward  to  an  examination  held  twice  every  three  years  in 
the  departmental  city.  This  departmental  examination  is 
conducted  by  the  provincial  examiner,  who  goes  to  the 
departmental  city  for  that  purpose  and  is  aided  by  the 
departmental  prefect.  The  candidates  make  their  appear¬ 
ance  twice  or  oftener  for  examination,  and  those  who  stand 
a  fair  chance  of  the  degree  are  then  required  to  appear  and 
write  out  from  memory  the  whole  of  the  Sacred  Edict,  a 
treatise  prepared  by  one  of  the  emperors  for  the  instruction 
of  his  subjects  in  their  moral  duties  (Doolittle).  Failure  in 
this  is  fatal  to  a  candidate’s  chance,  however  high  he  may 
stand  in  the  other  exercises.  This  departmental  examina¬ 
tion  is  the  last  of  the  primary  examinations  and  confers  on 
those  who  pass  it  the  designation  of  Sew-tzai,2  ‘  flowering 
talent,’  which  Europeans  have  translated  as  the  degree  of 
Bachelor.3  The  successful  Bachelor  can  wear  a  button  on 
his  cap  and  is  raised  above  the  common  citizen.  In  fact  he 
is  now  subject,  even  in  the  case  of  criminal  offences,  to  the 
literary  chief  of  the  graduates  of  his  district  (Doolittle). 
This  might  be  regarded  as  being  admitted  ‘  to  the  benefit  of 
clergy.’  He  now  belongs  to  the  lowest  grade  of  Chinese 
aristocracy.  But  only  a  fixed  number  receive  the  degree  at 
each  examination,  and  consequently  youths  often  go  back  to 
their  homes  without  public  recognition  of  their  attainments, 
although  in  reality  standing  high.  It  is  thus  in  the  strictest 

1  I  have  carefully  read  at  least  seven  or  eight  accounts  of  the  examinations, 
and  all  differ  in  their  details  somewhat.  I  give  the  result  of  a  careful 
collation. 

2  Spelt  sometimes  siu-ts-ai. 

3  According  to  Doolittle,  there  are  also  certain  intermediate  or  supple¬ 
mentary  examinations  of  Bachelors,  to  weed  out  those  who  are  not  fit  to  go 
forward  to  the  second  degree. 


THE  URO-ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  ,129 


sense  a  competition.  Those  who  pass  the  examination  are 
received  with  great  rejoicings  by  their  friends.  I  have 
already  said  that  this  B.A.  is  sometimes  purchased,  and 
often  obtained  by  bribery.  Of  this  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
According  to  Doolittle,  it  can  be  bought  from  the  Imperial 
authority  itself.  The  purchaser  can  then  compete  for  the 
next  higher  degree.  In  any  case,  he  has  received  a  distinc¬ 
tion  of  great  social  value. 

(3)  Every  three  years  the  Bachelors  of  each  province  have 
an  opportunity  of  being  examined  at  the  provincial  city  at  a 
great  gathering  presided  over  by  two  examiners  sent  from 
Peking,  who  are  assisted  by  a  large  local  staff.  These  ex¬ 
aminations  extend  over  three  sittings.  Although  the  average 
number  allowed  to  pass  in  each  province  is  only  seventy 
(Martin  gives  one  in  a  hundred),  the  competitions  are  fre¬ 
quently  attended  by  from  7,000  to  8,000  Bachelors.  There 
may  be  in  a  provincial  hall  as  many  as  10,000  examination 
cells :  small  and  uncomfortable  recesses.  The  candidates 
take  in  their  own  provisions  (the  State  allowance  being 
bad),  and  there  are  servants  appointed  to  cook  for  them. 
Two  days  and  nights  seems  to  be  the  minimum  amount  of 
time  spent  in  the  examination  hall.  Martin  gives  three  ses¬ 
sions  of  nearly  three  days  each.  Compositions  in  prose  and 
verse  are  prescribed,  and  themes  to  test  the  extent  and  depth 
of  scholarship.  Those  who  pass  are  designated  ‘  promoted 
men,’  Chii-jin,  which  in  Europe  has  been  translated  ‘  Licen¬ 
tiates/  or  *  Masters.’  They  can  now  adorn  their  caps  with  a 
gilt  button  of  a  higher  grade. 

(4)  The  Licentiates  or  Masters  are  now  entitled  to  com¬ 
pete  for  the  metropolitan  title  of  *  entered  scholars/  or  (as 
we  have  translated  the  degree)  Doctor  (Chin-tze)  which  is 
conferred  after  a  severe  examination  at  Peking,  the  capital, 
held  triennially  and  conducted  by  the  metropolitan  Acade¬ 
micians,  members  of  the  Han-lin.  It  lasts  thirteen  days 
(Plath) ;  but  the  percentage  of  elected  men  is  now  larger 
than  in  the  lower  examinations. 

The  mere  details  of  working  so  huge  an  examination 

o  o 

9 


130 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


machine  are  enough  to  overwhelm  the  ordinary  European 
mind  —  officers  to  marshal  the  students  before  entering  the 
examination  hall ;  officers  to  paste  down  the  corners  of  the 
themes  on  which  is  the  number  corresponding  to  the  candi¬ 
date’s  name  ;  servitors  to  wait  on  the  candidates ;  examiners 
and  their  numerous  assistants. 

The  Bachelor's  examination  occupies  only  one  day,  the 
candidates  assembling  before  dawn,  and  being  provided  with 
slate  and  paper.  Though  searched  before  entering  they  not 
unfrequently,  it  is  said,  find  means  of  eluding  their  searchers, 
and  instead  of  having  the  ‘Four  Books’  at  their  fingers’  ends 
have  them,  in  the  form  of  diamond  editions,  concealed  up 
their  flowing  sleeves.  As  soon  as  it  is  light  enough,  two 
themes  for  prose  essays  and  one  for  a  poem  are  carried  round  . 
on  long  poles  and  are  copied  down  by  all.1  Then  ensues 
a  struggle  as  to  who  shall  finish  first,  a  certain  proportion  of 
marks  being  allowed  for  speed  in  composition,  and  by 
degrees  all  the  papers  are  handed  in  and  the  candidates  dis¬ 
perse.  Some  few  days  afterwards  the  list  is  issued. 

Dr.  Morrison  summarises  thus,  in  speaking  of  the  Licen¬ 
tiates  examination.  First  day:  three  themes  from  the  Four 
Books,  one  for  a  verse  composition.  Second  day :  one  theme 
from  each  of  the  Five  Classics ;  one  of  these,  according 
to  most  writers,  being  a  verse  composition.  Third  day:  five 
questions  on  the  history  and  economics  of  China.  The 
theme-paper  is  printed  with  perpendicular  and  horizontal 
lines,  dividing  it  into  squares,  one  square  for  each  character. 
Characters  blotted  out  or  altered  must  be  numbered  and 
noted  down  by  the  student  according  to  a  prescribed  form. 
The  number  of  characters  for  each  essay  is  prescribed.  It 
will  not  be  accepted  if  there  are  any  heterodox  opinions. 

In  a  great  centre  like  Canton  there  will  be  found  as  many 
as  10,000  persons  within  the  enclosure  of  the  examination 
building,  and  the  public  interest  is  intense. 

For  the  military  service  a  very  small  knowledge  of  liter- 

1  Bishop  Gray  gives  several  days  to  this  examination. 


THE  URO- ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN 'RACES  131 


ature  is  needed.  The  special  examination  consists  of 
physical  exercises  —  the  lifting  of  heavy  weights,  drawing 
the  long  bow,  and  drill  with  the  sword. 

4.  Rewards  of  success  in  the  examinations 

It  is  a  joyful  moment  for  those  who  find  themselves 
in  possession  of  the  first  literary  degree  —  a  degree  which 
launches  its  owner  fairly  in  a  recognised  career,  entitles  him 
to  wear  official  dress  with  a  gilt  button  of  the  lowest  grade, 
and  exempts  him,  as  a  prisoner  or  as  a  witness,  from  the 
indignity  of  the  bamboo  —  at  any  rate,  until  his  case  shall 
have  been  reported  to  the  higher  authorities  and  his  diploma 
cancelled.  From  this  moment  he  is  nominally  an  officer 
of  the  State,  though  doomed  to  remain  for  some  time,  and 
possibly  for  ever,  in  the  position  of  an  unemployed  and 
unpaid  attach^.  He  is,  however,  whatever  may  happen,  a 
member  of  the  Chinese  aristocracy.  His  own  energy  and 
abilities  must  determine  the  rest.  He  may  now  either 
obtain  by  purchase  (not  from  the  State  but  from  the  man¬ 
darin  in  whose  office  the  particular  patronage  is  vested)  or 
by  influence,  subordinate  employment  as  secretary,  clerk,  &c. 
in  some  department  of  the  provincial  administration,  and 
trust  to  chance  to  work  his  way  in  the  world :  or  he  may 
become  a  scribe  or  a  teacher. 

While  Bachelors  have  no  right  to  expect  office,  the 
Licentiate  may  expect  a  post  after  waiting  for  one  or  two 
years  ;  but  much  depends  on  personal  influence  at  this  stage. 
The  Doctor  has,  however,  claim  to  a  district  magistracy  at 
once,  and  the  career  of  civilian  in  all  its  grades  is  opened  up 
to  him.  Mr.  Williams  says  (ed.  1857)  that  in  his  time, 
partly  in  consequence  of.  the  extensive  sale  of  offices,  5,000 
Doctors  and  27,000  Licentiates  were  waiting  for  employment. 
In  any  other  country  save  China  these  men  would  be  a 
serious  element  of  danger  to  the  State. 

‘  Hard  and  successful  study,’  says  Mr.  Meadows,  ‘  alone 
enables  a  Chinese  to  set  foot  on  the  lowest  step  of  the 


132 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


official  ladder,  and  a  long  and  unusually  successful  career  is 
necessary  to  enable  him  to  reach  the  higher  rounds’; 
and  we  may  add,  in  the  words  of  this  same  author,  that  ‘  the 
administrative  system  into  which  learning  thus  secures  an 
access  is  the  most  gigantic  and  the  most  minutely  organised 
which  the  world  has  ever  seen.’ 

It  has  to  be  noted  that  the  specialised  liberal  professions  as 
we  understand  them,  do  not  exist  in  China,  ‘  and  a  youth  in 
determining  his  calling  in  life  has  to  choose  between  becoming 
a  scholar  and  a  possible  mandarin  or  teacher,  and  taking  to 
trade.  This  narrowing  of  future  possibilities  induces  almost 
every  lad  who  possesses  any  talent  whatever  to  throw  in  his 
lot  with  the  students.  And  this  point  being  decided,  he 
devotes  himself  with  all  the  industry  of  his  race  to  preparing 
for  the  public  examinations  by  perfecting  his  knowledge  of 
the  classics  and  by  practising  the  art  of  .writing  essays  and 
penning  verses.’  (Douglas,  p.  165.) 

The  few  more  distinguished  Doctors  may  go  forward  to 
still  another  and  final  examination  which  makes  them  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  Imperial  Academy  attached  to  the  court  at 
Peking,  which  is  entrusted  with  the  function  of  poets  and 
historians  of  the  empire,  and  the  supervision  of  the  State 
examinations.  At  each  triennial  examination  the  emperor 
designates  the  one  consummate  flower  of  the  triennium,  the 
‘  Senior  Wrangler  ’  (as  they  would  say  at  Cambridge)  of  the 
empire,  and  the  city  which  has  produced  him  becomes  noted 
in  the  eyes  of  all  China. 

To  what  end  all  this  ?  Not  to  promote  philosophical 
speculation,  scientific  investigation,  or  even  literary  excel¬ 
lence,  but  merely  with  a  view  to  ascertain  fitness  for  the 
public  service  by  testing  ‘the  acquisitive,  retentive,  and 
reproductive  powers  of  the  candidates.  Any  originality 
would  be  fatal  to  the  aspirant.  We  cannot  shut  our  eyes 
to  the  barren  result  of  all  this  hard  study  and  excessive 
examination.  The  exclusiveness  with  which  the  Chinese 
minds  are  fed  on  the  facts  and  bald  precepts  of  history,  on 


THE  URO- ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  133 


the  poetical  literature  (mostly  lyric  and  artificial)  of  the 
past,  and  the  demand  made  on  them  for  an  exact  reproduc¬ 
tion  of  the  words  of  their  sacred  books  and  the  classical 
writers  and  commentators  on  them,  has  a  tendency  to  con¬ 
firm  and  perpetuate  the  Chinese  peculiarities  of  mind,  and 
to  repress  all  true  progressive  intellectual  life. 

At  the  same  time  such  a  system  manifestly  has  high  politi¬ 
cal  significance.  The  intellect  of  the  whole  empire  is,  so  to 
speak,  captured  and  enslaved  not  merely  to  the  learning  of 
the  past  but  to  the  existing  constitution  of  things.  A  system 
which  gives  every  man,  who  can  attain  even  to  the  lowest 
degree,  a  social  status  and  the  prospect  of  professional  work 
of  some  kind,  can  be  upset  only  by  some  extraordinary  social 
upheaval.  An  aristocracy  of  intellect  is  in  its  essence  a 
democratic  institution,  and  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
emperor  and  his  cabinet,  a  very  safe  one.  The  system,  more¬ 
over,  while  producing  men  attached  to  the  institutions  by 
which  they  have  risen,  acts  as  a  check  on  the  arbitrariness 
of  despotism.  The  emperor  must  so  conduct  himself  as  to 
satisfy  the  conceptions  of  moral  conduct  and  political  justice 
which  the  highest  intellect  of  the  country  has  formed  and 
formulated. 

Great  are  the  privileges,  we  see,  belonging  to  those  who 
have  an  opportunity  of  obtaining  education,  but  it  is  impossi¬ 
ble  that  education  in  any  sense  can  reach  the  masses  of  the 
people.  Time  and  money  are  needed  to  take  advantage  of 
the  education  offered.  Nor,  indeed,  would  it  seem  possible  to 
give  what  we  in  the  West  call  popular  education  save  through 
the  local  dialects,  in  which  there  is  little  or  no  native  litera¬ 
ture.  The  literary  language  is  as  far  removed  from  these  dia¬ 
lects  as  Latin  is  from  broad  Scots. 

5.  Subjects  of  examination 

To  these  I  have  already  adverted.  They  are  clearly  defined, 
and  it  is  impossible  for  any  one  who  means  to  succeed,  to 
allow  his  attention  to  be  for  a  moment  directed  from  the  pre- 


134 


PRE- CHRIS TIAN  ED UCA  DION 


scribed  path.  And  yet,  from  the  Chinese  point  of  view  the 
course  of  study  is  comprehensive.  Biot  correctly  says  that  the 
competitive  examinations  are  on  principle  founded  on  the 
reading  and  explanation  of  a  limited  number  of  ancient  texts, 
and  so  far  it  is  rightly  called  ‘  literary.’  But  it  has  also  an 
intellectual  character  resulting  from  the  fact  that  these  texts 
contain  all  the  essential  documents  of  morality,  philosophy, 
politics  and  history  —  the  ensemble  of  rights  and  duties.  The 
Five  Classics  and  Four  Books  do  not  amount  in  bulk  to  more 
than  our  Old  and  New  Testaments  together. 

But  commentators  have  also  to  be  studied,  and  these  have 
produced  works  of  inordinate  dimensions.  ‘  Century  after 
century,’  says  Professor  Douglas,1  ‘  has  produced  scholars  who 
have  devoted  their  lives  to  the  production  of  exegetical  trea¬ 
tises  which  since,  as  every  grain  of  wheat  has  been  long  well 
threshed  out  of  the  texts,  have  degenerated  into  trivial  and 
verbal  technicalities.’ 

6.  Teachers :  Schools :  Course  of  Study :  Methods 

(a)  Teachers  and  Schools.  —  The  schoolmaster  has 
not  to  pass  an  examination  and  requires  no  permit  from  the 
authorities,  but  I  believe  that  the  educational  inspectors  are 
empowered,  if  they  see  fit,  to  close  bad  schools.  Parents 
choose  for  their  children  the  teacher  in  whom  they  have  con¬ 
fidence  and  they  exercise  the  greatest  care  in  doing  so.  The 
teachers  are  mostly  Bachelors  in  arts  who  have  not  proceeded 
to  a  higher  degree,  frequently  men  who  have  failed  in  the 
competition  for  their  bachelorship.  But  in  the  higher  grades 
of  teaching,  even  Doctors  will  be  often  found  to  prefer  school- 
work  to  the  public  service.  All  instructors  are  much  re¬ 
spected  ;  no  function  is  more  highly  esteemed,  save  that  of 
an  administrator.  They  are  engaged  by  the  year.  Their 
remuneration  varies.  In  ‘  private  ’  schools  they  receive  from 
35Z.  to  80Z.  per  annum ;  in  country  schools  they  are  paid  by 
the  fees  of  the  scholars,  usually  from  2s.  to  4s.  per  month, 
besides  presents  and  provisions. 

1  Society  in  China ,  p.  164. 


THE  UR0-ALTA1C  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  135 


The  children  of  the  towns  and  villages  meet  in  some  de¬ 
pendence  of  a  pagoda  or  temple  or  of  some  large  commercial 
establishment.  Frequently  mere  sheds  are  used.  It  is  rarely 
that  a  building  specially  designed  for  a  schoolhouse  is  to  be 
seen.1  The  rooms  are  generally  hired  by  the  teacher  :  some¬ 
times  he  may  have  himself  a  house  suitable  for  a  school  and 
receive  the  children  there.  Private  schools  got  up  by  a  few 
well-to-do  families  for  their  own  children,  are  kept  in  the 
halls  dedicated  to  ancestors  and  are  better  provided  than  the 
public  schools.  It  is  private  interest,  not  zeal  for  the  eleva¬ 
tion  of  the  people,  that  leads  to  the  institution  of  schools ; 
but  here  and  there  schools  have  been  set  on  foot  by  the  per¬ 
sonal  benefactions  of  some  rich  man  who  looks  for  his  reward 
in  some  literary  title. 

In  village  schools,  the  number  of  pupils  under  one  teacher 
may  be  from  20  to  40.  The  school  hours  are  usually  from 
sunrise  to  10  o’clock,  when  the  children  go  home  to  dinner, 
and  then  from  11  to  5.  The  arrangements  of  the  school  are 
very  simple.  The  teacher  has  a  table  and  arm-chair  for 
himself,  and  every  scholar  has  to  bring  with  him  a  writing- 
table  and  chair.  Every  one  has  to  provide  himself,  also, 
with  books,  paper,  Indian-ink  and  pencil. 

The  boy  enters  school  about  the  age  of  seven.  The  first 
going  to  school  is  a  great  occasion  in  the  family.  Admission 
into  the  school  is  accompanied  by  a  formal  ceremony  under 
the  name  of  Koi-hok,  i.e.,  opening  of  studies.  On  first  going 
to  school  the  scholar  pays  his  devotions  (which  consist  in 
burning  of  incense  and  genuflexions)  before  the  altar  of  Con¬ 
fucius.  If  there  is  no  altar,  a  bit  of  paper  with  Confucius’s 
name  on  it  will  suffice  (Doolittle).  He  next  salutes  his 
teacher  with  great  reverence.  The  boy  is  now  a  disciple  of 
Confucius  and  remains  so  till  the  day  on  which  he  takes  his 
final  degree.  Every  day,  when  the  pupils  come  to  school, 
they  bow  and  offer  incense  to  the  picture  of  a  god  of  knowl¬ 
edge,2  then  bow  to  the  teacher  and  take  their  places.  Educa- 

1  Wells  Williams’s  Middle  Kingdom. 

2  One  of  these  I  possess,  and  it  is  a  hideous  object. 


136  PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 

tion  as  well  as  instruction  is  understood  to  be  comprised  in 
the  teacher’s  duties.  Accordingly,  he  is  required  to  train 
the  pupils  in  good  behaviour  and  convey  to  them  the  rules 
of  decency  and  politeness,  and,  all  through  the  school  period, 
moral  instruction  and  becoming  conduct  according  to  the 
rules  of  etiquette  which  regulate  the  relations  of  persons  to 
each  other  in  China  are  understood  to  be  kept  in  view.  In 
such  matters  nothing  seems  to  be  too  minute  for  the  Chinese 
mind. 

(b)  The  Course  of  Study.  —  The  course  of  study  is 
rigid  and  the  same  for  all :  nothing  in  the  whole  of  the  long 
curriculum  is  optional. 

Speaking  generally,  there  are  three  grades  of  instruction 

—  sometimes  all  within  the  same  school.  The  primary,  in 
which  mere  memory  work  is  done,  and  script  acquired ;  the 
middle,  in  which  a  translation  is  given  of  the  canonical 
books ;  and  the  higher,  in  which  composition  and  commen¬ 
taries  are  the  leading  studies. 

The  first  schoolbook  is  described  as  the  ‘  Pass  to  the  regions 
of  classical  and  historical  literature/  but  this  is  not  its  name. 
It  is  sometimes  called  the  ‘  three-character  classic  ’  —  also 
the  ‘  trimetrical  classic/  1  It  begins  with  the  necessity  of 
education.  Then  the  importance  of  their  duties  to  children 
and  brothers  is  impressed  upon  the  pupils  by  precept  and 
example.  Then  follows  a  survey  of  the  various  branches  of 
knowledge  in  an  ascending  series :  the  three  great  powers 
(heaven,  earth,  and  man) ;  the  four  seasons  and  quarters  of 
heaven  ;  the  five  elements  (metals,  wood,  fire,  earth)  ;  the 
five  cardinal  virtues  (love,  justice,  propriety,  wisdom,  truth 

—  faithfulness) ;  the  six  species  of  grain  (rice,  barley,  wheat, 
beans,  millet,  and  another  kind  of  grain)  ;  the  six  domestic 
animals  (horse,  ox,  sheep,  fowl,  dog,  swine)  ;  the  seven  pas¬ 
sions  (love,  hatred,  joy,  sadness,  pleasure,  anger,  and  fear) ; 

1  Quoting  from  the  Abbe  Hue,  the  Dictionnaire  Pklagogique  gives  San-tze- 
king  as  the  Chinese  title  of  this  book.  A  copy  before  me,  printed  in  Hong 
Kong,  reads  Sam-tsz-King. 


THE  URO- ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  137 


the  eight  notes  of  music ;  the  nine  degrees  of  relationship ; 
the  social  duties  as  between  ruler  and  subject,  father  and 
son,  husband  and  wife,  elder  and  younger  brother,  and 
friends.  After  this  survey  come  rules  for  a  course  of  aca¬ 
demic  studies  with  a  list  of  the  books  to  be  used,  and  a 
general  summary  of  the  History  of  China  with  an  enumera¬ 
tion  of  the  successive  dynasties  of  the  empire.1  The  material 
is  too  compressed  and  too  generalised  for  the  youthful  mind 
to  assimilate;  but  at  this  age  no  regard  is  paid  to  the 
development  of  the  thinking  powers.  The  pupils  are  to 
receive  quite  mechanically  a  store  of  valuable  information, 
till  the  time  comes  when  their  intelligence  will  be  awakened 
by  the  explanations  of  the  teacher,  and  this  happens  only  in 
the  case  of  those  who  propose  to  go  forward  to  the  public 
degree  examinations.  The  Primer  —  the  contents  of  which 
I  have  just  summarised  —  begins  thus  (Eitel’s  translation) : 

Man’s  commencement  of  life  is  such  that  his  nature  is  radically  good. 
But  as  to  nature,  men  are  mutually  near  each  other 
Whilst  in  practice  they  are  mutually  far  apart. 

Suppose,  however,  that  no  education  were  given  to  a  man, 

His  nature  would  then  be  diverted. 

Education’s  rationale  is  such  in  its  tendency 
That  the  highest  value  is  set  on  application. 

The  next  five  lines  are  from  Bridgman’s  translation : 

To  educate  without  rigour  shows  a  teacher’s  indolence. 

That  boys  should  not  learn  is  an  improper  thing ; 

For  if  they  do  not  learn  in  youth,  what  will  they  do  when  old  1 
Gems  unwrought  can  form  nothing  useful ; 

So  men  untaught  can  never  know  the  proprieties. 

Another  extract,  having  reference  to  the  books  to  be 
studied,  may  be  given : 

Now  in  all  cases  when  instruction  is  given  to  the  ignorant, 
Although  it  is  well  to  explain  characters  orally  and  exhaustively, 
Yet  detailed  moral  instruction  in  the  sayings  of  the  ancients 

1  See  Eitel’s  translation,  published  at  Hong  Kong,  1 892, 


138 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Is  just  as  necessary  as  precision  regarding  syntactic  punctuation. 
But  as  to  [successful]  practice  of  study,  or  rather  that  which  con¬ 
stitutes  it, 

It  is  indispensable  to  have  a  rational  basis  to  begin  with. 

Starting  therefore  from  a  study  of  the  filial  piety  classic, 

We  proceed  to  the  study  of  the  so-called  Four  Books. 

And  so  on. 

The  concluding  words  of  the  book  are  these : 

Whilst  men  leave  behind  them  their  sons, 

And  with  gold  fill  their  coffers, 

I,  Wong  Poh-hen  give  an  education  to  my  sons, 

Leaving  behind  nought  but  this  one  little  book. 

But  diligence  in  the  use  of  it  will  have  its  sure  merits, 

Whilst  play  is  of  no  benefit  at  all. 

Beware  of  that,  do  ! 

It  is  of  imperative  importance  for  you  to  exert  all  your  strength. 

Observe  the  generalised  and  abstract  character  of  the  in¬ 
struction  given  to  mere  infants.  When  we  note  further  that 
each  notion  is  represented  either  by  a  distinct  symbol,  or  a 
symbol  with  more  than  one  interpretation,  we  shall  be  able 
to  conceive  the  vast  memory  task  which  the  Chinese  child 
has  to  face  on  the  very  threshold  of  learning.  M.  Genahr  (a 
missionary)  affirms  that  a  great  many  even  of  the  teachers 
do  not  understand  the  meaning  of  what  they  teach  children 
to  read. 

The  boy  now  knows  the  shapes  and  sounds  of  upwards  of 
400  separate  characters,  representing  upwards  of  1,000  words, 
and  is  considered  sufficiently  advanced  to  take  the  second 
step  upon  the  road  to  knowledge  and  to  proceed  to  commit 
to  memory  in  like  manner  the  ‘  Thousand  Character  Book  ’ 
—  Ts’in-Tsz-man.  This  singular  piece  of  composition  is  said 
to  have  been  the  production  of  a  man  who  was  supplied  in 
prison  with  1,000  different  characters  jumbled  together  and 
to  have  been  ordered  to  make  out  of  them  a  poem.1  He 
accomplished  the  feat  in  a  single  night,  but  his  hair  turned 

1  Giles’  Historic  China. 


THE  URO- ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  139 


white  with  the  effort.  This  is  legendary,  of  course.  The 
poem  consists  of  250  columns  of  four  characters  to  each. 
The  subjects  are  varied,  and  rather  inconsequent,  as  witness 
the  following  specimen  which  I  take  from  the  beginning  of 
the  book,  as  being  the  best  part  from  a  literary  point  of  view 
and  also  the  most  consecutive: 

There  is  [father]  Heaven  above  me  and  [mother]  Earth  below  : 

how  dusky  the  former,  how  tawny  the  latter  ! 

And  so  there  is  the  universe  all  around,  with  its  aeons  all  along : 

how  vast  the  former,  how  limitless  the  latter ! 

Then  there  is  sun  and  moon  :  even  as  the  latter  goes  on  to  fulness, 
the  former  declines. 

And  so  there  are  the  other  planets,  with  all  the  stars :  how  scat¬ 
tered  they  are,  and  yet  how  orderly  the  display ! 

[Hence  it  is  that  nature  makes]  the  cold  to  come  on,  even  as  the 
heat  begins  to  depart, 

And  as  autumn  gathers  things  up  [into  maturity],  so  winter  again 
hides  them  all  away. 

[And  hence  also]  men  forming  into  intercalary  months  the  surplus 
[of  their  reckoning  of  days]  have  perfected  [their  calcula¬ 
tions]  of  the  year. 

And  likewise  in  music,  having  discovered  the  sharps  and  flats,  they 
have  reproduced  [in  melodies]  in  harmonies  of  nature’s  ex¬ 
panding  [and  reverting]  breath. 

The  book  then  goes  on  to  treat  of  the  beauty  of  natural 
objects,  the  origin  and  progress  of  Chinese  civilisation,  in¬ 
herited  physical  and  mental  constitution,  moral  self-culture, 
moral  reputation,  filial  piety,  political  loyalty,  value  of  literary 
studies,  deportment,  founders  of  Chinese  polity,  topography, 
value  of  agriculture,  advice  and  warning,  natural  gifts  and 
organised  study,  the  flight  of  time,  and  concludes  with  a 
warning  against  isolation. 

Here  again  the  chief  object  is  to  store  the  pupil’s  memory 
with  the  shapes  and  sounds  of  a  large  number  of  written 
symbols ;  and  by  the  time  that  the  Thousand  Character 
Essay  (or  poem)  has  been  mastered,  it  follows  that  1,000 1 

1  Unless  the  same  characters  frequently  recur,  which  is  probable. 


140 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


new  characters  will  have  been  added  to  the  boy’s  stock-in- 
trade  ;  besides  which  he  ought  to  have  acquired  a  knowledge 
of  a  very  useful  cardinal  series  of  numbers  from  1  to  1,000. 
But  besides  this,  as  the  work  is  methodically  constructed  (a 
fact  which  puts  out  of  court  the  legend  of  the  prisoner),  the 
children  ought  to  have  acquired  a  large  amount  of  informa¬ 
tion  on  history,  geography,  morality,  and  the  domestic  virtues. 
I  say  ‘  ought  to  have  acquired  *  advisedly ;  hut  they  acquire 
nothing  save  the  utterance  of  the  literary  words  by  rote,  and 
the  formation  of  the  literary  characters.  No  attempt  is 
made  to  bring  the  intelligence  to  bear  on  the  work  done. 
The  object  is  simply  to  give  the  children  a  rote-knowledge  of 
the  words  and  forms  of  the  literary  language.  Still  a  certain 
intellectual  result  must  follow. 

If  any  one  doubts  the  effect  of  school  education  on  the 
character  and  life  of  a  nation,  let  him  consider  with  himself 
the  respective  influence  of  these  Chinese  classical  primers  so 
acquired,  and  the  Shorter  Catechism  used  as  a  school  text¬ 
book  and  as  constituting  the  rule  of  faith  and  life  in 
Scotland. 

One  writer  says,  with  manifest  truth,  that  the  Chinese 
child  is  in  a  position  similar  to  that  in  which  an  English 
child  would  be  who  had  to  learn  by  heart  Latin  Grammar 
and  several  Latin  books  without  understanding  a  single 
word.  Rote- work,  and  this  in  what  is  practically  a  foreign 
tongue,  governs  all.1 

The  next  step  is  an  important  one,  analogous  to  the  old 
Grammar-school  transition  in  learning  Latin,  viz.  from  the 
‘Delectus’  to  Csesar  and  Yirgil  —  from  the  elementary  to 
the  more  advanced.  The  budding  student  now  opens  the 
first  page  of  the  Four  Books,  which  are  of  vital  importance 
in  the  great  competitive  tests  to  which  he  will  hereafter  be 
subjected.  These  Four  Books,  to  which  are  added  the  Five 
Classics,  are  now  committed,  one  by  one,  to  memory,  in  pre¬ 
cisely  the  same  way  as  the  two  foregoing  schoolbooks, 
anything  like  explanation  or  consultation  of  the  author- 

1  I  have  also  seen  a  short  book  of  poetry  sometimes  used  in  schools. 


THE  URO-ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  141 


ised  commentaries  being  postponed  until  some  progress 
has  been  made  in  the  arduous  task  of  learning  by  heart. 
(Giles.)  The  master,  it  is  true,  now  translates  and  the 
boys  imitate  him ;  but  there  is  no  independent  effort  to 
get  at  the  meaning. 

Then  come  the  commentaries,  as  I  have  before  explained. 
‘  The  memory  work  is  prodigious,  and  is  abnormally  devel¬ 
oped  at  the  expense  of  all  the  higher  mental  faculties.’ 
(Douglas,  p.  165.)  ‘  It  is  always  easier  to  remember  than  to 

think,  and  according  to  the  current  Chinese  system,  it  is  also 
more  profitable.’ 

(c)  Method  of  Instruction.  Earlier  stages.  —  There 
are  several  highly  esteemed  books  on  the  subject  of  education 
in  China,  and  they  contain  admirable  maxims,  but  there  has 
been  no  attempt  to  discover  a  method  of  training.  The  most 
celebrated  perhaps  is  one  called  ‘  Complete  Collection  of 
Family  Jewels,’  in  which  there  are  also  rules  for  school  man¬ 
agement  (Morrison).  There  is  no  class  system.  It  )s  all 
individual  teaching. 

The  method  of  learning  to  read  is  the  following.  The 
book  is  opened  and  the  teacher  begins  to  read.  The  pupils, 
each  of  whom  has  his  book,  repeat  the  words  after  the  master, 
with  their  eyes  fixed  on  the  page,  and  following  the  words 
with  their  fore-finger.  Only  one  line  is  read,  and  this  is 
repeated  by  the  pupils  simultaneously  in  a  loud  voice  till  the 
pupils  have  acquired  the  pronunciation  of  every  symbol  and 
can  read  the  line  without  the  master.  Then  they  go  to  their 
seats  and  learn  the  line  by  heart ;  this  they  also  do  with  a 
loud  voice,  each  one  shouting  out  his  task  (the  noise  proceed¬ 
ing  from  a  Chinese  school  is  frightful),  till  he  has  imprinted 
it  on  his  memory.  When  he  is  ready  he  goes  to  the  master, 
puts  his  book  on  the  table  before  him,  turns  his  back  and  so 
repeats  the  lesson.  Hence  the  phrase  ‘  to  back  the  book  ’  is 
equivalent  to  ‘  saying  by  heart.’  Then  the  teacher  proceeds 
to  the  next  line,  and  goes  on  in  the  same  way  till  the  whole 
book  is  committed  to  memory.  The  book  is  rhythmically 
constructed,  so  that  three  symbols  always  form  one  sentence, 


142 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


•> 

and  lienee  the  name  Sam-tz-King ,  or  ‘the  trimetrical  or 
three-character  classic.’  We  have  here  developed  to  its 
fullest  extent  the  universal  Oriental  custom  of  learning  by 
heart  —  a  survival  from  the  time  when  oral  tradition  was 
the  only  possible  way  of  learning  and  teaching.  Before  books 
or  rolls  existed  the  teacher  recited  what  the  pupils  were  to 
learn,  and  they  repeated  it  after  him  till  they  knew  it.  The 
understanding  of  what  was  acquired  was  not  thought  of,  nor 
indeed  was  the  instruction  graduated  so  as  to  fit  the  intelli¬ 
gence  of  the  young.  The  understanding  of  what  was  learned 
was  allowed  to  take  care  of  itself.  China,  although  it  has 
the  printed  page,  is  no  exception  to  the  crude  Oriental  con¬ 
ception  of  instructing  the  young. 

Besides  the  reading  of  the  symbols,  the  only  other  subject 
taught  in  the  elementary  school  is  writing.  The  scholars 
receive  a  copy  from  the  master,  which  contains  in  the  first 
instance  the  simplest  symbols,  and  they  gradually  learn  to 
write  those  of  more  complex  form.  These  copies  are  laid 
under  the  paper  on  which  the  pupil  is  to  write,  and  are  traced 
by  him  with  the  pencil.  When  he  has  obtained  some  facility 
in  tracing  he  begins  to  copy. 

Many  boys  who  -go  to  school  never  learn  more  than  to 
read  and  write,  and  do  not  attain  to  an  understanding  of  the 
characters  ;  so  that  even  if  one  of  them  were  capable  of 
reading  and  saying  by  heart  a  whole  book  fluently,  he  would 
not  be  therefore  able  to  give  any  account  of  what  he  had 
read.  Although  regular  instruction  in  arithmetic,  geography, 
history,  natural  history,  or  foreign  languages  is  never  thought 
of,  and  no  religious  instruction  is  given,  it  has  to  be  remarked 
that  the  first  and  second  books  contain  a  great  deal  of  geo¬ 
graphical,  historical,  and  naturalistic  information  of  an  ele¬ 
mentary  and  crude  kind.  These  things  are  set  down,  however, 
in  a  highly  abstract  preceptive  way,  and  are  not  understood. 
But  how  long  is  it  since  in  England  Mangnall’s  ‘  Questions  ’ 
and  Pinnock’s  ‘  Catechisms  ’  were  almost  universal,  and  how 
long  since  maps  were  considered  essential  to  the  teaching  of 
geography  ? 


THE  URO- ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES 


143 


Method  of  Instruction.  Higher  stages.  —  For  the 

mass,  even  of  the  educated,  three  or  four  years  is  the  extent 
of  the  school  period.  Those  who  wish  to  devote  themselves 
permanently  to  studies  begin  only  after  this  to  understand 
what  they  read,  and  receive  in  the  course  of  time  a  thorough 
explanation  of  the  classical  authors.  They  are  also  exercised 
in  making  verses  according  to  prescribed  rules,  and  in  writing 
themes  in  imitation  of  models.  This  higher  training  is  con¬ 
ducted  by  masters  who  have  passed  an  examination,  and 
have  graduated. 

In  the  public  and  private  colleges  lectures  are  delivered 
on  the  Four  Books  and  the  Five  Classics.  Four  times  in 
the  month  compositions  are  written  and  verses  made  on 
themes  which  have  been  previously  discussed  under  the 
guidance  of  the  master.  ‘  The  first  step  in  composition  is 
the  yoking  together  of  double  characters.  The  second  is 
the  reduplication  of  these  binary  compounds,  and  the  con¬ 
struction  of  parallels  —  an  idea  which  runs  so  completely 
through  the  whole  of  Chinese  literature,  that  the  mind  of 
the  student  has  to  be  imbued  with  it  at  the  very  outset. 
This  is  the  way  he  begins:  the  teacher  writes,  “wind 
blows,”  the  pupil  adds,  “  rain  falls ;  ”  the  teacher  writes, 
“  rivers  are  long,”  the  pupil  adds,  “  seas  are  deep  ”  or  “  moun¬ 
tains  are  high,”  ’ 1  &c.  To  acquire  fluency  and  elegance  in 
composition,  the  Chinese  students  learn  by  heart  a  consider¬ 
able  number  of  essays  which  have  been  written  by  distin¬ 
guished  scholars  in  a  masterly  style ;  and  these  collections  in 
considerable  numbers  are  sold  in  the  shops. 

It  is  on  his  literary  proficiency,  reproductive  powers,  and 
attention  to  unalterable  rules  that  the  student’s  ultimate 
success  wholly  depends.  A  candidate  receiving  a  given 
theme,  is  not  at  liberty  to  sit  down  and  write  an  essay  in 
the  terms  or  sequence  which  unassisted  fancy  may  dictate. 
There  must  be  no  originality  of  either  thought  or  style.  He 
must  abide  by  fixed  rules,  introducing  the  subject  in  so  many 
balanced  sentences,  developing  it  in  so  many  more,  sum- 

1  Education  in  China,  p.  89.  Martin. 


144 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


ming  up  his  arguments,  and  finally  reaching  the  conclusion 
according  to  received  principles  of  composition.  The  very 
number  of  sentences  is  prescribed,  frequently  the  number  of 
words.  And  so  also  with  poems.  These  are  invariably  on 
the  same  model  —  a  stated  number  of  characters  to  each  line, 
arbitrary  rules  of  rhyme,  trite  similes  and  forced  allusions  to 
the  past.  The  book-shops  of  Chinese  cities  are  flooded  with 
collections  of  essays  and  poems  by  famous  authors  of  all  ages, 
and  these  are  carefully  studied  by  intending  competitors  in 
the  hope  of  borrowing  therefrom  something  of  their  vigour 
and  refinement  (Giles). 

The  most  highly  esteemed  hook  on  composition  is  called 
‘  The  Learner’s  Bright  Mirror.’  The  steps  of  an  essay  as 
prescribed  in  this  book  are : 

1.  The  breaking  open  of  the  theme. 

2.  Beceiving  the  theme. 

3.  Beginning  to  discuss  the  theme. 

4.  Raising  a  branch  or  division. 

5.  The  passing  vein  (passing  from  one  idea  to  another). 

6.  The  middle  division  (amplification,  &c.). 

7.  The  closing  division  (containing  further  elucidation). 

8.  The  winding-up  division  (Morrison).1 

As  regards  school-discipline  need  I  say  that,  with  such  aims 
and  such  methods,  the  rod  is  freely  and  unsparingly  used  ? 

It  is,  of  course,  impossible  that  there  can  he  in  China  any 
principles  and  methods  of  instruction  and  education  in  the 
sense  in  which  Europe  uses  these  words,  because  there  is  no 
scientific  spirit  and  no  psychology.  But  as  I  have  said, 
they  are  not  without  their  books  on  the  art  of  education 
which  contain  very  sagacious  remarks  and  sound  judgments. 
Of  these  the  most  important  is  a  ‘  Treatise  on  the  Education 
of  Young  Children,’  written  in  the  twelfth  century  by  a 
philosopher  named  Tcliow-hi  or  Chow-tsze ;  I  suppose  the 

1  Professor  Douglas,  in  Society  in  China ,  expresses  the  rules  differently, 
but  they  are  substantially  the  same. 


THE  URO- ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  145 


eminent  thinker  referred  to  before  (‘  Diet.  Peel.’).  In  this 
treatise  we  find  such  maxims  as  these :  ‘  In  teaching,  a  mas¬ 
ter  should  not  go  too  quickly  from  one  subject  to  another, 
and  never  explain  several  things  at  a  time.  If  he  observe 
this  rule,  ideas  will  arrange  themselves  and  combine  of 
themselves  in  the  mind  of  the  pupil.  He  ought  to  incite, 
animate,  and  urge  his  pupils,  but  never  press  them,  still  less 
force  them.’  ‘  If  a  master  teaches  clearly  he  will  make  him¬ 
self  understood  without  dealing  in  vain  and  long  discoursing.’ 
He  also  says  that  the  grand  art  of  teaching  is  to  get  the 
pupil  to  ask  questions,  and  that  he  ought  to  correct  the  fault 
of  a  pupil  without  letting  him  suspect  it.  Another  collection 
of  educational  precepts  goes  into  great  detail  as  to  the  duties  of 
teacher  and  scholar.  But  in  China,  as  elsewhere,  what  is 
axiomatic  with  the  educationalist  for  the  most  part  remains 
with  him,  and  is  not  part  of  the  practice  of  the  teacher, 
because  there  is  no  school  of  didactics,  and  therefore  no 
rational  tradition.1 

Women  remain  uneducated  except  among  the  wealthy. 
Among  these,  an  educated  woman  is  highly  respected  for 
her  attainments.  Her  instruction  has,  of  course,  been  private. 

Conclusion.  —  I  have  spoken  in  a  previous  part  of  this 
lecture  of  the  barren  results  intellectually  of  the  elaborate 
educational  curriculum  of  the  Chinese,  and  this,  indeed,  is 
one  of  the  causes  of  the  stereotyped  continuity  of  life.  The 
poverty  of  results  is  due  partly  to  the  narrow  range  of  the 
studies,  but  much  more  to  the  purpose,  character,  and  method 
of  them. 

The  highest  intellectual  employment  of  Chinese  men  of 
culture,  apart  from  the  work  of  administration,  is  the  repeat¬ 
ing  of  passages  from  the  Books,  and  exercising  themselves 
in  the  making  of  verses,  in  which  perfect  exactness  in  metre 
and  conformity  to  classical  usage  are  all-important,  but  not 

1  Bishop  Gray  says  (p.  174,  vol.  i. )  that  bachelors  become  members  of 
universities,  of  which  there  is  one  in  every  walled  city  !  He  must  refer  to 
the  Provincial  State  Colleges,  if,  indeed,  he  is  not  altogether  wrong. 

10 


146 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


more  so  than  beauty  of  caligraphy.  The  celebrated  novel 
called  Yu-Kiao-li,  or  ‘  The  Two  Cousins/  admits  us  to  the 
inner  life  of  the  Chinese,  and  gives  us  some  idea  of  the 
intellectual  condition  of  its  cultured  men,  and  their  most 
elevated  occupations.  Intellectually  there  is  great  ability 
and  great  acuteness,  hut  no  originality  —  nay,  a  distrust  of 
all  originating  power.  The  study  of  poetry,  which  is  so 
largely  encouraged,  might  be  expected  to  exalt  the  imagina¬ 
tion  and  stimulate  thought  among  the  Chinese,  but  even 
where  it  is  not  highly  artificial  and  hampered  by  ridiculous 
rules,  it  is  prosaic  and  preceptive.  The  following  extracts 
illustrate  what  I  mean : 

The  cricket  is  in  the  hall. 

And  the  year  is  drawing  to  a  close. 

If  we  do  not  enjoy  ourselves  now 

The  days  and  months  will  have  fled. 

But  let  us  not  go  to  excess ; 

Let  us  think  of  the  duties  of  our  position ; 

Let  us  not  go  beyond  bounds  in  our  love  of  pleasure. 

The  virtuous  man  is  ever  on  his  guard.  (Legge.) 

As  a  favourable  specimen  of  the  domestic  odes  I  may  cite 
the  following : 

‘Get  up,  husband,  here's  the  day.’ 

‘  Not  yet,  wife,  the  dawn ’s  still  grey.’ 

1  Get  up,  sir,  and  on  the  night 
See  the  morning  star  shines  bright. 

Shake  off  slumber,  and  prepare 
Ducks  and  geese  to  shoot  and  snare. 

All  your  darts  and  line  may  kill 
I  will  dress  for  you  with  skill. 

Thus  a  blithesome  hour  we  ’ll  pass, 

Brightened  by  a  cheerful  glass ; 

While  your  lute  its  aid  imparts 
To  gratify  and  soothe  our  hearts. 

On  all  whom  you  may  wish  to  know 
I’ll  girdle  ornaments  bestow, 


THE  URO- ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  147 


And  girdle  ornaments  I  ’ll  send 
To  anyone  who  calls  you  friend ; 

With  him  whose  love  for  you ’s  abiding 
My  girdle  ornaments  dividing.’ 

Again,  as  a  specimen  of  another  class  of  poetic  imagery,  the 
following  may  be  taken : 

A  Solitary  Carouse  on  a  Day  in  Spring 
The  east  wind  fans  a  gentle  breeze, 

The  streams  and  trees  glory  in  the  brightness  of  the  spring, 
The  bright  sun  illuminates  the  green  shrubs 
And  the  falling  flowers  are  scattered  and  fly  away. 

The  solitary  cloud  retreats  to  the  hollow  hill, 

The  birds  return  to  their  leafy  haunts, 

Every  being  has  a  refuge  whither  he  may  turn, 

I  alone  have  nothing  to  which  to  cling, 

So,  seated  opposite  the  moon  shining  o’er  the  cliff, 

I  drink  and  sing  to  the  fragrant  blossoms. 

There  is  not  much  of  the  ‘poet’s  eye  in  a  fine  frenzy 
rolling’  in  all  this.1 

As  of  poetry,  so  of  literature  generally :  in  our  European 
sense  we  may  say  confidently  that  it  does  not  flourish :  this 
partly  because  it  is  taught,  not  for  its  own  sake,  but  for 
ulterior  ends,  and  subject  throughout  to  strict  examination 
tests,  and  to  antiquarian  fixed  forms.  The  tendency  of 
competitive  examinations,  even  among  ourselves,  is  to  crush 
out  originality  and  real  interest  in  the  very  subjects  in 
which  a  student  distinguishes  himself.  The  Chinese  drama 
is  realistic  and  photographic,  and  wanting  in  all  the  higher 
qualities. 

In  the  department  of  encyclopaedias  and  topographical 
work  the  Chinese  are  strong.  Their  characteristic  qualities 
of  mind  have  full  scope  in  productions  which  demand  chiefly 
industry,  detailed  accuracy,  and  discriminating  judgment. 

1  I  have  read  the  Avhole  of  Romilly  Allen’s  ‘  Book  of  Chinese  Poetry,’  and 
the  above  (taken  from  the  Encyc.  Brit.)  are  very  favourable  specimens  indeed. 


148 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


As  to  moral  results,  these  unquestionably  are  very  far 
indeed  from  being  so  high  as  might  be  expected  from  a 
nation  whose  whole  energies  are  presumed  to  be  set  in  the 
direction  of  moral  and  political  training  and  the  supreme 
virtue  of  propriety,  while  allowing  the  people  to  follow 
their  own  fancies  in  religion.  After  all,  is  it  reasonable  to 
expect  a  high  moral  result  where  instruction  takes  the 
place  of  training  and  discipline  ? 1  The  supreme  product 
in  China,  if  we  found  it,  would  be  a  supreme  moral  pedant, 
just  as  the  supreme  product  in  the  sphere  of  intellect  is 
an  intellectual  pedant.  The  surrounding  of  religion  with 
rites  and  ceremonies  I  have  already  remarked,  while  it 
tends  to  give  it  permanence,  tends  also  to  deprive  it  of 
vitality.  This,  indeed,  is  a  trite  saying.  It  is  interesting 
to  note,  however,  that  the  same  remark  may  be  made  with 
equal  truth  when  an  attempt  is  made  by  means  of  an 
elaborate  and  complicated  social  ritual  to  regulate  the 
moral  and  civil  relations  of  men,  and  dogmatically  to  pre¬ 
scribe  rules  of  conduct.  The  result  is  a  vast  appearance 
of  ceremonious  politeness,  which,  as  it  is  enjoined  and  yet 
cannot  possibly  be  always  felt,  is  necessarily  accompanied 
with  a  consciousness  of  its  own  hollowness.  Hence  the 
disappearance  of  those  very  virtues  which  the  Chinese 
sages  desired  to  cultivate  —  simplicity  and  truthfulness. 
Hence  also  trickery  and  wiliness.  Honesty  is  not  a  con¬ 
spicuous  virtue  in  China,  and  what  Europeans  call  honour 
does  not,  it  seems  to  me,  exist.  The  whole  social  fabric 
would  seem  to  depend  for  its  easy  working  and  for  the 
absence  of  violence  between  individuals,  on  the  mainten¬ 
ance  of  a  false  and  elaborate  show  of  mutual  respect.  Pro¬ 
fessor  Douglas,  in  the  preface  to  ‘  Society  in  China,’  says : 
‘  There  is  no  country  in  the  world  where  practice  and  pro¬ 
fession  are  more  widely  separated  than  in  China.  The 
empire  is  pre-eminently  one  of  make-believe.  From  the 
emperor  to  the  meanest  of  his  subjects,  a  system  of  high- 

1  Theognis,  the  old  Greek,  said  this:  diddcr/cuv  ovirore  Troirjtxeis  tov  kclkov 
&vbp  ayaddu. 


THE  URO-ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES  149 


sounding  pretensions  to  lofty  principles  of  morality  holds 
sway,  while  the  life  of  the  nation  is  in  direct  contradiction 
to  these  assumptions.  ISTo  imperial  edict  is  complete,  and 
no  official  proclamation  finds  currency,  without  protesta¬ 
tions  in  favour  of  all  the  virtues.  And  yet  few  courts  are 
more  devoid  of  truth  and  uprightness,  and  no  magistracies 
are  more  corrupt  than  those  of  the  celestial  empire/ 

We  must  admit,  however,  that  the  political  aim  of  the 
educational  system  is,  to  a  large  extent,  attained ;  and  also 
the  social  aim,  for  the  Chinaman  is,  generally  speaking,  a 
good  son,  and  a  good  subject,  an  industrious  labourer,  a  man 
of  gentle  manners,  contented  and  peaceable.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  cannot  shut  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  morally,  as 
well  as  intellectually,  as  measured  by  Aryan  standards,  the 
education  given  leads,  at  best,  to  mediocrity.  By  crushing 
out  all  initiative  it  prevents  the  growth  of  a  free  personal¬ 
ity.  Where  this  is  wanting,  we  may  expect  to  find,  not 
only  the  absence  of  all  independent  inquiry  into  new  fields 
of  thought,  but  also  the  absence  of  the  more  manly  virtues. 

Perhaps  we  may  say  that  the  secret  of  failure  lies  in  the 
want  of  an  ideal  human  aim,  as  opposed  to  a  narrow  political 
or  social  aim.  Man  has  to  be  trained  ever  in  the  light  of  a 
type  of  manhood.  All  practical  aims  ought  to  be  subordi¬ 
nated  to  this.  It  cannot  he  said  that  the  course  of  education 
in  China  is  illiberal  or  anti-humanistic ;  but  restriction  of 
aim  and  intense  personal  competition  can  deprive  even  liberal 
studies  of  their  liberalising  influence.  The  human  ideal 
which  we  desiderate  as  educational  end  is  not  possible  except 
where  the  spirit  of  man  —  of  the  individual  man  —  is  nur¬ 
tured  in  freedom.  God  has  in  all  history  affirmed  this,  that 
the  highest  is  conceivable  and  attainable  only  through  free¬ 
dom.  Many  errors,  many  calamities  •  even,  may  flow  from 
the  untrammelled  play  of  human  reason ;  hut  these  too  are 
of  God.  Changes,  and  the  freedom  of  mind  which  is  their 
cause,  are  always  hateful  to  the  organising  mind,  which  is  a 
tyrannous  and  levelling  mind,  whether  it  clothe  itself  in  the 
garb  of  a  hard  cold  system  like  that  of  the  Chinese,  or  of  a 


150 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Catholic  Church,  a  secular  imperial  bureaucracy,  or  a  com¬ 
munistic  police.  No  such  organisation  can  rest  content  until 
it  has  achieved  the  enslavement  of  personality,  whose  essence 
is  always  freedom. 

There  are  among  us  who  are  enamoured  of  state-systems 
which  regulate  education  down  to  its  minutest  detail,  and 
leave  no  room  for  the  free  play  of  mind :  in  China  we  have 
this  indirectly  accomplished  and  see  it  in  all  its  necessary 
rigidity,  uniformity,  and  pedantry.  There  are  who  advocate 
a  secular  system  of  education :  in  China  we  see  this  in  full 
operation.  There  are  who  think  that  all  success  in  the 
education  of  mind  should  be  measured  by  external  competi¬ 
tive  tests :  in  China  we  have  this  elaborated  into  an  iron 
system.  There  are  who  cling  by  the  dogmatic  and  precep¬ 
tive,  and  regard  with  suspicion  the  habituating  of  the  mind 
of  schoolboys  to  ideals  sesthetic  and  spiritual,  including  even 
the  simple  elements  of  humanity :  in  China  they  will  find 
what  they  desire  to  see.  There  are  who  hold  that  teachers 
and  school-inspectors  are  heaven-born,  and  are  above  the 
study  of  educational  principles  and  methods  (as  the  Emperor 
Sigismund  was  supra  Grammaticam  )  :  so  China  thinks. 

I  am  not  going  to  elaborate  didactic  parallels  and  compari¬ 
sons,  tempting  as  the  field  may  be ;  but  this  I  may  say  by 
way  of  retrospect.  I  think  we  may  find  a  similarity  between 
the  ancient  Egyptian  and  the  Chinese  mind.  Both  are 
essentially  creatures  of  the  practical  understanding,  and  of 
merely  preceptive  morality, unfit  or  indisposed  (unlike  the 
Aryan)  to  find  the  reason  in  things,  and,  consequently,  essen¬ 
tially  unspeculative  and  unscientific.  And  yet  how  different 
in  some  respects !  The  Egyptian  had  a  profound  sense  of 
the  mystery  of  life,  and  of  infinite  possibilities  hereafter.  The 
Chinese  are  essentially  prosaic,  and  of  the  earth  earthy. 
The  Egyptian  was  saved  by  having,  like  the  Semite,  a 
divine  standard  and  sanction,  such  as  it  was,  and  a  corre¬ 
sponding  responsibility  to  the  Unseen.  The  Chinese  seem  to 
have  no  standard  save  the  fit  and  the  prudential  and  the 
‘  proper,’  and  cannot,  therefore,  I  venture  to  say,  be  deterred 


TEE  URO- ALTAIC  OR  TURANIAN  RACES 


151 


from  unworthy  action  towards  either  their  fellow-citizens  or 
others  by  a  sense  of  responsibility  to  ideal  aims  which  con¬ 
nect  them  with  the  gods  or  with  God. 

It  is  the  intelligence  with  which  we  permeate  all  school 
studies  —  that  is  to  say,  the  free  movement  of  mind  which  we 
evoke  in  the  young  —  that  alone  truly  instructs :  it  is  the 
life  of  personality  and  personal  responsibility  which  we  infuse 
into  ethical  training  and  discipline,  and  the  infinite  relations 
with  which  we  sanctify  it,  that  can  alone  rear  a  people  who 
are  to  be  vigorous,  virile,  and  progressive.  Mere  memory 
work  in  the  sphere  of  intelligence,  mere  preceptive  and  dog¬ 
matic  teaching  in  the  ethical  sphere,  can  produce  at  best  the 
mere  semblance  of  a  true  man  or  woman  —  the  sterile  con¬ 
vention  of  outer  obedience. 

We  pass  now  from  the  highest  and  most  organised  expres¬ 
sion  of  Turanian  or  Uro-Altaic  civilisation  to  the  Aryan 
races,  to  which  we  ourselves  belong. 


Note  on  Early  Forms  of  Religion 

Primitive  religion  (if  it  can  be  called  religion)  is  known  as  Ani¬ 
mism,  that  is  to  say  belief  in  the  existence  of  numerous  souls  or 
spirits.  Those  spirits  on  which  man  imagines  himself  dependent 
for  material  felicity  and  personal  security  naturally  become  objects 
of  worship  as  divine  "beings.  But  the  worship  is  the  offspring  of 
slavish  fear,  and  takes  all  sorts  of  forms  with  a  view  to  appease  the 
reluctant  spirits.  Magic  and  various  incantations  are  also  resorted 
to,  with  a  view  to  control  them.  There  may  be  also  good  spirits, 
and  among  these  the  spirits  of  ancestors  :  to  these  offerings  are  also 
made.  When  spirits  enter  into  an  object  of  nature  as  a  permanent 
residence,  and  these  objects  are  worshipped,  we  have  fetichism. 
The  first  priests  are  those  who  have  or  pretend  to  have  the  power 
of  ingratiating  men  with  spirits  or  demons  by  means  of  magical 
incantations  and  spells  and  sacrifices.  ‘  In  the  animistic  religions/ 
says  Tiele,  ‘  fear  is  more  powerful  than  any  other  feeling ;  the  evil 
spirits  receive  more  homage  than  the  good,  the  lower  more  than 
the  higher,  the  local  more  than  the  more  remote,  the  special  more 
than  the  general.’  There  is  nothing  moral  in  the  relations  between 


152 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


men  and  such  beings,  since  their  favour  or  disfavour  depends  en¬ 
tirely  on  the  gifts  offered  or  withheld.  The  doctrine  of  immortality 
is,  at  this  early  stage,  simply  the  doctrine  of  continuance,  compen¬ 
sation  for  good  or  evil  deeds  being  a  late  development  and  probably 
concurrent  with  a  belief  in  a  Supreme  Spirit  above  all  other  spirits. 
Where  this  idea  of  compensation  enters,  we  have  the  beginnings  of 
the  worship  of  a  Being  who  takes  note  of  moral  conduct,  though 
not  necessarily  himself  moral  according  to  man’s  notions.  The 
next  step  is  a  God  who  is  Himself  an  ethical  Being  with  human 
relations. 

We  are  not  to  depreciate  the  religion  of  a  nation  because  we  find 
animistic  and  fetichistic  practices  existing  side  by  side  with  a 
higher  doctrine,  for  we  have  to  remember  that  a  conquering  race 
may  occupy  a  country  with  a  religion  higher  than  that  of  its  first 
inhabitants,  while  yet  the  lower  form  of  religion  continues  to  oper¬ 
ate —  nay  even  may  infect  the  conquerors. 

Authorities :  Encyclopaedias  (especially  Encyc.  Brit.),  English,  French,  and 
German;  Dr.  Morrison’s  Dictionary;  Doolittle’s  Social  Life  of  the  Chinese , 
1866  ;  Giles’s  Historic  China  Meadows’s  China;  Bishop  Gray’s  China; 
Legge’s  Religions  of  China ;  Williams’s  Middle  Kingdom  ;  Martin’s  China, 
Political,  Commercial,  and  Social ,  1847  ;  Ueber  S chule-  Unterricht  und 
Erziehung  bei  den  alten  Chinesen,  von  Dr.  J.  H.  Plath,  1868  ;  Essai  sur 
Vhistoire  de  Vinstruction  publique  en  Chine,  Ac.,  par  E.  Biot,  1847  ;  China,  by 
G.  Eug.  Simon,  1887  ;  Tiele’s  Outlines  of  the  History  of  Ancient  Religions  ; 
Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin’s  Han  Lin  Papers,  London  and  New  York,  1880; 
Society  in  China,  by  Professor  Douglas,  1894.  Book  of  Chinese  Poetry  (the 
Shi-King)  translated  by  Mr.  Romilly  Allen,  1891.  Chinese  School-books. 
Many  other  books  have  been  consulted. 

Those  who  wish  to  read  the  Chinese  sacred  literature  must,  of  course, 
betake  themselves  to  Legge’s  monumental  work  entitled  The  Chinese  Classics, 
in  seven  volumes,  1861. 

Note.  —  There  are  the  remains  of  an  old  university  at  Peking,  founded  in 
the  fourteenth  century,  but  now  practically  deserted.  This  institution  sells 
the  lowest  degree,  thus  giving  a  qualification  to  compete  for  the  higher.  Mr. 
Martin  says  that  there  is  a  *  formal  ’  examination  for  the  degree,  and  that 
prior  to  the  holding  of  the  examination  numerous  students  fill  the  old  halls. 
It  is  a  great  abuse. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN 

RACES 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN 

RACES 

HINDUS:  MEDO-PERSIANS  :  HELLENES:  ITALIANS  (ROMANS ) 

‘It  was  not  only/  says  Duncker  (vol.  iv.),  ‘in  the  lower 
valley  of  the  Nile,  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris, 
and  along  the  coast  and  on  the  heights  of  Syria,  that  inde¬ 
pendent  forms  of  intellectual  and  civic  life  grew  up  in  the 
ancient  world.’  By  the  side  of  the  early  civilisations  of 
Egypt,  the  Semitic  races,  and  the  Chinese,  we  find  forms  of 
culture  developed  among  races  very  different  in  their  nature 
and  temperament.  The  Medo-Persian  civilisation  is  much 
later,  it  is  true,  than  the  Egyptian  or  the  Semitic,  but  the 
branch  of  the  Aryan  race  which  crossed  into  India  may 
claim  an  antiquity  for  civilised  forms  of  life  second  only  to 
that  of  Egypt  and  Babylonia. 

The  common  characteristic  of  the  Egyptian  and  Semitic 
and  Chinese  religions,  in  so  far  as  they  touched  the  people, 
was  their  externalism.  In  some  of  the  highest  utterances  of 
Egypt,  it  is  true,  we  find  ethical  conceptions  characterised 
by  sanity  and  humanity,  but  these  did  not  emanate  from 
the  acknowledged  relation  of  man  to  God,  but  rather  arose, 
I  think,  out  of  the  doctrine  of  immortality.  The  external¬ 
ism  of  the  Jewish  religion  was  far  in  advance  of  that  of 
other  nations,  because  it  was  an  externalism  of  moral  acts, 
and  not  merely  of  ceremonies.  The  Semitic  family  gener¬ 
ally  have,  it  is  true,  through  prophets  and  hymn-writers, 
admitted  all  who  choose  to  follow  them  to  great  theologico- 
ethical  ideas.  But  the  popular  religion  of  all  these  races 
was  an  external  system ;  and,  in  the  case  of  all  save  the 
Israelites,  it  was  a  superstition.  The  spirituality  of  religion 


156 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


was  lost  in  ceremonial,  and  the  practical  ethics  which  the 
religions  might  have  yielded  were  choked  by  external  observ¬ 
ances.  All  externalism  tends  to  superstition,  it  matters  not 
what  form  the  externalism  takes.  Even  in  its  very  highest 
Christian  form,  it  tends  towards  what  is  little  better  than 
an  elevated  and  aesthetic  fetichism.  With  superstition  is 
always  associated  fear,  and  that  awe  of  arbitrary  unseen 
powers  which  produces  slavish  minds.  In  their  political 
relations,  Egyptian  and  Semite  and  Mongolian  were  all  alike 
slaves  rather  than  subjects.  Further  development  was 
impossible  save  by  the  introduction  of  a  new  principle  — 
the  personal  and  free  relation  of  the  human  spirit  to  an 
ethical  God.  This,  wherever  it  exists,  moulds  political 
forms  and  social  relations.  It  is  in  truth,  the  living  unity, 
or  rather  identity,  of  the  religious  idea  with  moral  ideas 
which  alone  can  permanently  lift  religion  out  of  the  category 
of  superstitions.  God  must  dwell  with  men  and  in  each 
man  as  a  self-conscious  person.  Thus  it  is  that  Christ  alone 
makes  nations  free  by  making  each  man  a  son  of  God. 

When  we  pass  from  the  Egyptian  and  Semitic  territories 
to  the  home  of  the  Aryan  races,  we  feel  like  travellers 
ascending  from  monotonous  and  oppressive  plains  to  a  cool 
and  invigorating  table-land.  The  region  east  of  the  Caspian, 
which  is  still,  spite  of  recent  scepticism,  regarded  as  the 
original  seat  of  the  Aryan  or  Indo-European  race,  sent  its 
Persian  and  Hindu  emigrants  to  the  south-east,  and  succes¬ 
sive  waves  of  Kelt,  Sclave,  Teuton,  and  Hellene  (including 
Italian)  to  the  north  and  west. 

It  is  a  striking  fact,  however,  that  the  fresh  and  virile 
spirit  of  this  vigorous  race  could  not  sustain  itself  on  the 
plains  of  India.  The  Hindus  succumbed  to  the  influences 
of  nature,  which  were  too  great  and  overwhelming  to  admit 
of  the  free  growth  of  the  self-conscious  personality  so  con¬ 
spicuous  in  their  brethren.  These  influences,  and  the  habits 
of  thought  and  life  of  the  pre-Aryan  races  who  formed  a 
large  proportion  of  the  population,  developed  characteristics 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  157 


in  the  Hindus  somewhat  akin  to  much  that  we  find  in  the 
Egyptian  and  Semite ;  and  for  this  reason,  as  well  as  because 
of  their  greater  antiquity,  we  shall  speak  of  them  before  we 
ascend  to  the  clearer  atmosphere  of  the  Medo-Persian  hills, 
where  the  true  Aryan  spirit  which  we  inherit  first  clearly 
declared  itself. 


(A)  INDIA  AND  THE  HINDUS 

It  is  apparent  enough  from  the  preceding  chapters  on  educa¬ 
tional  history,  that  it  is  quite  impossible  to  give  anything 
approaching  to  a  correct  view  of  what  constitutes  the  educa¬ 
tion  of  a  people,  without  first  putting  before  the  reader  an 
outline  of  that  people’s  civilisation.  And  civilisation  re¬ 
solves  itself,  for  educational  purposes  at  least,  into  the 
religious  and  moral  conceptions  of  a  nation  and  its  con¬ 
sequent  political  (or  at  least  social)  organisation.  At  the 
same  time,  as  I  have  already  said,  to  treat  of  the  character¬ 
istics  of  a  nation’s  life  and  civilisation  in  detail  is  to  forget 
the  precise  object  of  the  educational  historian,  and  even  to 
obscure  it.  Such  a  brief  account  of  a  people  and  their  special 
characteristics  as  is  essential  to  the  understanding  of  the 
education  which  tradition  and  environment  unconsciously 
gave  to  all  the  members  of  it,  is  sufficient.  This  must  always 
be  followed  by  a  statement  of  the  means  which  the  State, 
more  or  less  consciously,  took  to  bring  up  its  children  with  a 
view  to  maintain  and  perpetuate  the  national  life,  if  any 
record  of  this  remain.1 

When  we  approach  the  education  of  a  country  like  ancient 
India,  or  rather  that  portion  of  it  which  was  Hindu,  we  are 
at  once  met  by  the  great  and  all-influencing  social  fact  of 
caste.  Of  this  we  may  be  certain,  that  wherever  in  ancient 

1  I  may  be  allowed  here  to  repeat  the  words  of  the  Preface,  that  any  attempt 
to  generalise  in  short  compass  the  characteristics  of  a  civilisation,  must  always 
be  inadequate  ;  and  though  not  necessarily  erroneous  it  must  want  balance 
because  of  the  absence  of  historical  development  and  of  many  qualifying 
considerations. 


158 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


times  there  was  a  distinct  sacerdotal  hereditary  caste,  the 
higher  education  of  the  country  was  practically  the  educa¬ 
tion  of  that  caste.  Even  in  Europe  this  was  the  case  up  to 
the  twelfth  century,  although  the  priestly  order  was  open  to 
all.  With  the  rise  of  the  universities  rose  the  differentiation 
of  the  professions  as  lay  spheres  of  intellectual  activity  ;  and 
it  was  only  in  so  far  as  it  destroyed  sacerdotalism  as  an  ex¬ 
clusive  representative  of  the  Divine,  that  Protestantism  in 
the  sixteenth  century  gained  the  kingdom  of  knowledge  and 
culture  for  the  people  as  a  whole.  ‘  All  are  priests,  all  are 
equal  in  the  sight  of  God/  is  of  the  essence  of  Reformed 
Christianity :  this  was  the  new,  or  rather  the  revived,  doc¬ 
trine.  In  Egypt  largely,  and  in  Mesopotamia  and  India 
wholly,  the  priestly  order  included  what  in  modern  times  we 
call  the  faculties  of  law  and  medicine,  nay  even  sometimes 
also  the  departments  of  architecture  and  music.  It  thus 
comprehended  all  the  learning  of  the  time.  In  so  far  as 
instruction  outside  this  circle  may  be  met  with  in  a  caste 
society,  it  must  inevitably  he,  so  far  as  the  great  mass  of  the 
people  is  concerned,  of  a  very  slight  and  perfunctory  charac¬ 
ter,  and  aim  chiefly  at  putting  in  the  hands  of  a  limited  por¬ 
tion  of  the  people  the  necessary  mercantile  arts  of  reading, 
writing,  and  elementary  arithmetic.  All  else  is  the  education 
of  apprenticeship  to  arts :  a  training  in  itself,  however,  of 
no  mean  character,  although  not  aiming  at  the  education  of 
mind  as  mind. 

The  earliest  civilisation  of  India  may  be  embraced  within 
2000  to  1400  B.c. — the  period  of  plastic  traditions  and  of 
primitive  Aryan  survivals. 

The  books  which  embody  the  intellectual  and  moral  faith 
of  the  Hindus  are  the  Veda,  the  six  systems  of  philosophy, 
the  laws  of  Manu,  and  Buddhism.  The  Veda  consists  of 
three  parts,  (1)  prayer  and  praise,  (2)  ritualistic  precept  with 
prose  illustrations,  (3)  Upanishad  or  mystical  and  secret  doc¬ 
trine,  written  in  prose,  with  occasional  verse.  The  Code  of 
Manu  is  a  collection  of  traditionary  usages  and  customs  of  a 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  159 


social  and  domestic  kind,  of  practices  of  government  and 
legal  procedure,  penitential  exercises  and  ‘  consequences  of 
acts.’  It  abounds  in  excellent  moral  precepts.  The  other 
treatises  mentioned  above  are  religious,  theological,  and  meta¬ 
physical,  but  even  the  code  itself  contemplated  a  religious 
end  —  the  transmigration  of  the  individual  soul  and  final 
beatitude.  All  these  books  spring  from  ancient  oral  tradi¬ 
tion,  gradually  accumulating  and  receiving  as  time  went  on 
additions  and  critical  expansion.  The  Yedic  hymns  of  praise 
and  thanksgiving  and  adoration  of  gods  we  may  place  as 
early  as  1200  B.c.  The  recension  of  the  law-book  of  Manu 
dates  only  about  500  B.c.,  but,  like  all  literature  in  Oriental 
countries,  it  existed,  in  its  essential  parts  at  least,  long  before 
as  a  tradition. 

I  do  not  propose  to  enter  into  the  question  of  Hindu  faith 
and  practice  generally,  but  merely  to  bring  into  relief  the 
governing  idea  of  the  fundamental  faith  of  the  nation,  what¬ 
ever  subordinate  polytheistic  forms  the  doctrine  may  have 
taken.  I  accept  this  governing  idea  as  moulding  the  true 
life  of  the  people,  and  also  as  itself  primarily  an  expression 
of  their  way  of  looking  at  life. 

The  Brahmanical  caste-system  gradually  grew  up  between 
1200  B.c.  and  1000  b.c.  The  Buddhistic  reformation  began 
about  500  B.c.,  but  it  was  only  from  about  242  B.c.  that 
Buddhism  formulated  itself  as  a  rival  of  Brahmanism. 
Brahmanical  religion  had  again  gained  ascendency  in  500 
A.D.,  and  Buddhism  was  exiled  to  Ceylon,  some  portions  of 
the  north  of  India,  Burmah,  Thibet,  China  and  Japan. 

The  caste  system,  I  have  said,  determined  the  area,  as  well 
as  the  character,  of  the  education.  By  caste  we  mean  that  kind 
of  social  organisation  by  which  the  natural  divisions  of  the 
people  are  authoritatively  fixed  and  made  hereditary.  These 
divisions  were  into  priests,  including  scholars  and  legislators ; 
warriors,  including  executive  administrators ;  merchants, 
including  all  industrial  members  of  the  community  who 
employed  labour ;  and  labourers.  One  of  the  Hindu  legends 
(invented  by  the  priests)  is  that  the  supreme  caste  of  Brah- 


160 


PRE- CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


mans  proceeded  out  of  the  mouth  of  Brahma  the  creator; 
the  warrior  (military  executive  caste)  Kshatriyas,  out  of  the 
arms  ;  the  industrial  and  mercantile  Vaisyas,  from  the  thigh  ; 
and  the  servile  class  or  Sudras,  from  the  foot.  Besides  these, 
there  is  a  still  lower  class,  standing  outside  the  pale  of  the 
Brahmanical  social  organisation,  called  Pariah  in  Southern 
India,  and  Chandalas  in  other  districts.  The  Sudras  and  the 
other  lowest  caste  are  understood  to  have  been  the  aboriginal 
inhabitants  of  India  prior  to  the  Aryan  Hindu  invasion  and 
conquest. 

Mixture  of  castes  was  not  absolutely  forbidden,  except  as 
regards  the  marriage  of  men  with  women  of  a  higher  caste ; 
hut  it  entailed  (and  still  entails)  disadvantages,  especially  on 
the  children.  Indeed,  it  would  appear  that  the  caste  organi¬ 
sation  was  never  quite  so  iron  as  has  been  sometimes 
represented,  although  the  Brahmans  naturally  did  all  they 
could  to  perpetuate  it.  In  the  post-Buddhistic  reformed 
Brahmanism  a  more  liberal  doctrine  was  recognised;  for  it 
is  held  that  the  humblest  member  of  the  lowest  caste  might 

O 

attain  to  union  with  Brahma,  the  supreme  all-embracing 
Spirit,  and  this  fact  must  have  largely  influenced  the  way 
in  which  the  castes  gradually  came  to  regard  each  other. 
The  following  verses  from  the  great  Sanskrit  epic,  the 
Mahabharata,  are  in  this  relation  interesting. 

THE  PATH  OF  SALVATION 

A  spirit  ( YaJcsha )  asks  : 

What  is  it  makes  a  Brahman  ?  Birth, 

Deep  study,  sacred  lore,  or  worth  1 

King  Yudhishthira  answers  : 

Nor  study,  sacred  lore,  nor  birth 

The  Brahman  makes  ;  ’t  is  only  worth. 

All  men  —  a  Brahman  most  of  all  — 

Should  virtue  guard  with  care  and  pains. 

Who  virtue  rescues,  all  retains ; 

But  all  is  gone  with  virtue’s  fall. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  161 


The  men  in  books  who  take  delight, 

Frequenters  all  of  learning’s  schools, 

Are  nothing  more  than  zealous  fools ; 

The  learn’d  are  those  who  act  aright. 

More  vile  than  one  of  Sudra  race 
That  Brahman  deem  whose  learned  store 
Embraces  all  the  Yedic  lore, 

If  evil  deeds  his  life  disgrace. 

That  man  deserves  the  Brahman’s  name, 

Who  offerings  throws  on  Agni’s  flame 
And  knows  his  senses  how  to  tame.1 11 

In  the  earlier  Yedic  thought  we  find  characteristics  which 
connect  the  primitive  religion  of  the  Hindus  with  the  Medo- 
Persian,  which  found  finally  its  highest  expression  in  Zoroas¬ 
trianism.  The  worship  of  Mithra  the  Sun  and  of  fire  was 
universal  among  the  Aryans,  and  the  recognition  of  three 
powerful  gods  along  with  an  innumerable  number  of  good 
and  evil  spirits.  The  climatic  influence  of  India,  however,  so 
different  from  that  of  Medo-Persia,  told  on  the  primitive 
genius  of  the  people,  and  as  Brahmanism  developed  (1200 
B.c.  onwards),  we  find  in  it  elements  wholly  antagonistic  to 
the  Zoroastrian  individualism  and  the  continual  personal 
contest  between  light  and  darkness,  good  and  evil,  which  that 
religion  teaches.  The  old  Yedic  gods  were  retained  by  the 
Hindus,  and  sacrificial  services  to  them,  both  domestic  and 
public,  were  numerous.  In  all  the  Yedic  hymns  there  is  a 
pure  worship  of  several  gods  —  worship  of  nature  and  the  spirit 
of  nature.  They  are  also  highly  ethical  and  personal.  In 
the  course  of  time  this  simple  religion,  influenced  doubtless 
by  the  aboriginal  tribes,  who  were  by  no  means  savages,  de¬ 
generated  into  idolatry,  and  a  religion  of  rites  and  ceremonies 
divorced  from  ethics.  At  the  same  time  there  gradually 
emerged  among  the  more  intelligent,  the  idea  of  the  supreme 
god  Brahma,  who  was  universal,  not  merely  national.  In 

1  Translated  by  the  late  Dr.  Muir. 

11 


162 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


connection  with  this  theological  conception  arose  a  mystic 
philosophy ;  but  philosophy  and  religion  had  in  India  their 
history  and  development  as  well  as  elsewhere,  which  here  we 
cannot  attempt  to  follow. 

After  a  certain  date,  however,  we  find  that  through  the 
whole  system  of  thought  there  runs  one  general  governing 
idea  as  the  reflection  of  the  mind  of  the  race.  Except  in  so 
far  as  it  is  atheistic,  that  idea  is  pantheistic  —  forms  of 
belief  which  tend  to  the  same  ethical  results.  The  practical 
effects  of  the  pantheistic  temperament  are  conspicuous  ;  for 
the  highest  moral  aim  of  the  Hindu  is  not  self-sacrifice  in  the 
sense  of  the  sacrifice  of  all  desires  to  the  duties  of  this  life, 
which  is  the  true  Christian  idea,  but  it  is  rather  the  abnega¬ 
tion  of  life  itself  with  a  view  to  the  absorption  of  the  indi¬ 
vidual  into  the  ‘  All.’  The  dominating  idea  in  the  conception 
of  God  is  that  of  Absolute  Being ;  inmost  essence  of  all 
things.  Being  is  quiescent :  it  is  the  negation  of  activity. 
The  personal  immortality  of  some  of  the  Yedic  hymns  ceased 
under  the  influence  of  this  mystic  theology  to  be  an  operative 
faith.  Transmigration  was  only  a  step  in  the  process  of 
absorption.  It  is  manifest  that  the  idea  of  perfect  repose,  a 
repose  amounting  to  the  death  of  personality,  could  not  but 
largely  influence  daily  conduct.  Before  the  All-One,  the 
particular  and  the  individual  are  in  truth  of  no  moment, 
mere  passing  shows,  and  all  that  fills  the  senses  is  essentially 
illusory  (Maya).  What  a  contrast  to  the  Hebrews !  Such 
an  idea,  if  rooted  in  the  nature  of  a  people,  is  an  effective 
check  to  all  self-reliant  activity,  weakens  all  sense  of  indi¬ 
vidual  responsibility,  and  destroys  what  may  be  called  the 
ambition  of  excellence.  Even  the  daily  duties  of  life  are  not 
done  as  the  act  of  a  free  individual,  seeking  thereby  the  good 
of  others  and  the  growth  of  himself  in  virtue ;  and  moral 
conduct,  though  it  may  be  in  itself  unexceptionable,  finds  it¬ 
self  placed  on  the  same  level  as  sacerdotal  prescriptions  and 
sacrificial  acts.  Withdrawal  from  life  and  an  ascetic  contem¬ 
plation  become  the  supreme  virtues.  The  idea  of  fatalism, 
also,  though  it  may  not  find  formal  expression,  inevitably 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  163 


underlies  the  lives  of  men  whose  abstract  conceptions  of  the 
end  of  life  are  such  as  we  have  indicated.  Wuttke  very  well 
says  that  people  of  a  strong  personality  pray,  ‘  Thy  kingdom 
come ;  *  the  Chinese  pray,  ‘  May  thy  kingdom  remain  ;  ’  the 
Hindus, ‘  May  that  which  thou  has  created  perish  :  ’  that  is 
to  say,  ‘  May  all  existence  he  swallowed  up  in  Being/ 

It  may  he  said  that  the  above  is,  strictly  speaking,  the 
Buddhistic  conception ;  but  in  truth  the  highest  form  of 
Brahmanism  which  contemplates  ultimate  absorption  in 
Brahma  has  the  same  essential  characteristics  as  Buddhism. 
The  latter  was  in  antagonism  to  the  former,  inasmuch  as  it 
preached  salvation  through  the  efforts  of  the  individual  soul 
after  perfection  in  Nirvana,  the  futility  of  prayers  and  sac¬ 
rifices  and  ceremonials,  and  ignored  the  divisions  of  caste. 
But  it  was  itself  a  Brahmanical  development ;  ethical  and 
universal  instead  of  national,  doctrinal,  and  ceremonial.  The 
Buddhistic  return  of  the  imperfect  soul  to  other  visible  forms 
was  similar  to  the  Brahmanical  transmigration,  though  not 
identical  with  it.  The  goal  of  Brahmanism  again  was  a 
union  with  Absolute  Being  not  to  he  distinguished  from 
absorption,  while  the  goal  of  Buddhism  was  the  extinction  of 
the  empirical  self  or  individual,1  and  a  state  of  Nirvana  from 
which  non-existence  is  not  to  he  distinguished,  because  indi¬ 
viduality  is  gone.  Nothing,  in  fact,  is  left  but  an  atom  of 
soul-stuff ;  at  best,  the  continuity  of  the  evolution  of  4  Truth  ’ 
towards  which  as  a  cosmic  process  the  soul  which  has 
attained  Nirvana  may  be  said  in  some  way  to  contribute. 
At  the  same  time  the  increasing  mass  of  followers  could  not 
do  without  a  god  and  Buddha  became  exalted  to  that  posi¬ 
tion  and  the  usual  degradation  of  religion  followed. 

The  educational  significance  of  the  mystic  doctrine  of  the 
highest  state  of  the  man-spirit  on  this  earth  and  its  ultimate 
goal  hereafter,  lies  not  so  much  in  the  effect  such  a  system 
of  thought  would  have  on  the  Hindus,  but  in  the  fact  that  it 

1  I  say  ‘  empirical  self’  because  Gautama  seems  to  me  never  to  have 
properly  distinguished  between  the  empirical  self  of  individuality  and  the 
self-conscious  ego  of  personality. 


164 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


was  a  natural  and  full  expression  of  the  genuine  Hindu 
mind  which  was  at  once  religious,  dreamy,  and  metaphysical. 
Not  only  the  Brahman  and  Gautama-Buddha,  hut  the  ration¬ 
alist  philosopher  Kapila,  were  all  equally  impressed  with  the 
nothingness  of  the  world  of  sense  and  the  misery  of  human 
life ;  and  all  alike  contemplated  escape  from  the  conditions 
of  earthly  existence.  With  the  two  latter  there  was  no 
God;  and  this  gave  the  Brahman  his  advantage  when 
Buddhism  had  to  be  fought  and  crushed.  At  the  same  time 
the  epics  show  that  the  Hindu  mind  was  not  insensible  to 
the  charm  of  nature  and  life ;  but  this  in  a  passive  way. 
Natural  forms  filled  them  with  wonder  and  yielded  a  mass 
of  legendary  fable.  And  yet,  as  Duncker  says,  nature  was 
essentially  a  ‘  magical  illusion.’  The  general  sentiment  of 
the  thoughtful  Hindu,  irrespective  of  sect  and  party,  may 
perhaps  be  fairly  summed  up  in  the  following  verses : 

THE  PRIEST  OF  BRAHMA  TO  HIS  DYING 

DISCIPLE 

‘  Boy  !  to  fear  death  which  only  means 
That  body  and  soul,  twin  life  in  bonds, 

Part  and  go  forth  their  several  ways  !  ’ 

‘  But  I  no  longer  am  ;  my  individual  self  dissolved.’ 

‘  That  may  be  so  :  and  yet,  if  so  it  be, 

What  then  1  Thy  soul  goes  gladly  forth 
To  mix  with  God,  sole  Being,  and  live  in  Him, 

Yielding  its  tribute  to  Universal  Mind  — 

A  spirit  atom  in  the  Eternal  One  — 

Serving  the  more  (high  destiny  !)  to  swell 
The  bliss  of  Being,  which  alone  can  be.’ 

‘  This  pleasing  body  to  the  grave  so  grim  h  ’ 

‘  Not  so.  Say  rather  to  the  arms,  the  kindly  arms 
Of  gracious  mother  earth  from  whence  it  sprang, 

Who  turns  it  quick  into  her  vital  sap 
That  it  may  pass  into  a  million  forms 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  165 


Of  unreality  that  mock  the  sense, 

Yet  constitute  the  beauty  of  this  world ; 

No  longer  but  a  part,  as  now  ;  but  interfused, 

And  dwelling  in  the  life  of  grass  and  trees, 

Made  glorious  in  the  budding  flowers  of  spring, 

Melting  into  the  green  of  tidal  caves, 

Rolling  in  thunder  and  the  ocean  storm, 

Gracious  and  tender  in  the  light  of  eve, 

And  splendid  in  the  rise  and  set  of  suns. 

For  soul  and  body  such  the  rapturous  end.’ 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Hindu  religion  was  not  in 
its  essence  and  Yedic  origin  a  religion  of  externalism.  It 
was  the  inner  life  of  the  soul  that  was  of  moment,  and  when 
this  was  lost  sight  of,  Buddhism  arose  as  a  Brahmanical  sect. 
It  was  because  sacrifice,  ceremonial,  and  penance  began  at 
a  certain  period  to  supersede  the  intellectual  and  ethical 
elements  of  Brahmanism  that  reform  was  inevitable. 

Into  the  popular  form  of  Brahmanism,  both  prior  and 
subsequently  to  Buddhism,  all  sorts  of  corruptions  entered. 
Superstitions  and  idolatries  always  abounded,  and  numerous 
sects  arose.  The  uneducated  mind  must  always  have  gods 
that  are  accessible,  and  pantheism  can  yield  thousands  of 
these.  New  gods,  moreover,  were  authoritatively  recognised 
from  time  to  time  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  people.  The 
post-Buddhistic  doctrine  of  a  ‘  Trinity  ’  of  gods  (as  it  is 
incorrectly  called)  who  were  emanations  of  Absolute  Being 
had  no  national  and  popular  influence  in  pre-christian  times. 

Concurrently  with  this  popular  degradation  of  religion 
the  abstract  and  metaphysical  development  went  on  in 
the  hands  of  the  intellectual  few.  And,  in  addition  to  a 
metaphysical  religion,  with  its  hymns  and  prayers,  active 
philosophical  schools,  and  a  school  of  singularly  acute 
grammarians,  we  also  find  a  literature  in  the  modern  sense. 
The  tales  of  heroes,  which  were  traditional,  reach  a  literary 
consummation  in  the  great  epics  —  the  Ramayana,  which 
presents  in  a  continuous  story  a  high  type  of  human  life ; 


166  PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 

and  the  Mahabharata,  which  has  been  called  an  ‘encyclo¬ 
paedia  of  tradition/  and  is  of  great  length.1  These  epics  are 
the  highest  literary  expression  of  the  Hindu  mind  and  have 
exercised  a  great  influence  on  the  life  of  the  people.  They 
have  reference  to  an  early  state  of  society;  but  they  took 
their  present  form  only  about  200  B.c.  These  epics  (probably 
to  meet  the  Buddhistic  heresy)  teach  transitory  incarnations 
of  the  Divine  Being. 

The  ethical  virtues  of  a  race  whose  deepest  convictions 
were  pantheistic  and  whose  highest  hope  was  personal 
absorption  in  the  Universal,  were,  as  we  might  expect,  tem¬ 
perance,  peaceableness,  patience,  docility,  gentleness,  and 
resignation.  These  virtues  are  naturally  accompanied  by 
politeness,  respect  for  parents  and  elders,  and  obedience  to 
the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  powers.  But  duty  in  our  com¬ 
manding  sense  of  the  word,  and  the  virtues  flowing  from  a 
strong  personality  that  controls  circumstances  and  shapes 
the  life  of  each  man,  were  not  to  he  expected.  Contrast  the 
Hindu  conception  and  its  effects  on  national  character  with 
the  Medo-Persian :  the  former  stands  as  far  above  the  latter 
in  metaphysical  profundity  as  the  latter  over  the  former  in 
its  ethical  simplicity  and  truth  and  in  its  virile  acceptance  of 
life  and  its  duties  as  a  privilege.  And  yet  both  alike  are  de¬ 
velopments  of  the  same  Aryan  primitive  religious  conceptions. 

EDUCATION  AMONG  THE  HINDUS 

Aim,  organisation  and  materials  of  education.  — 

The  end  of  the  higher  education  is  thus  expressed  in  Manu’s 
‘  Book  of  Laws  ‘To  learn  and  to  understand  the  Yedas,  to 
practise  pious  mortifications,  to  acquire  divine  knowledge  of 
the  law  and  of  philosophy,  to  treat  with  veneration  his  natural 
and  his  spiritual  father  [i.e.  the  priest]  these  are  the  chief 
duties  by  means  of  which  endless  felicity  is  attained.’  And 
endless  felicity  is  absorption. 

The  brief  summary  we  have  given  of  the  Hindu  philosophy 

1  Seven  times  the  length  of  the  combined  Iliad  and  Odyssey.  See  Monier 
Williams’s  Indian  Wisdom  for  an  account  of  these  poems. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  167 


of  life  would  have  led  us  to  expect  such  words  as  these.1 
We  may  with  advantage  here  contrast  the  Chinese  and  Hindu 
educational  end.  4  The  Chinese,’ says  Wuttke,  ‘educate  for 
practical  life,  the  Indians  for  the  ideal :  those  for  earth,  these 
for  heaven  [individual  blessedness  or  absorption]  ;  those 
educate  their  sons  for  entering  the  world,  these  for  going  out 
of  it.  Those  educate  for  citizenship,  these  for  the  priesthood 
[i.e.  as  the  ideal  of  life] .  Those  for  industrial  activity,  these 
for  knowledge.  Those  teach  their  sons  the  laws  of  the  state, 
these  teach  them  the  essence  of  the  godhead.  Those  lead 
their  sons  into  the  world,  these  lead  them  out  of  the  world 
into  themselves.  Those  teach  their  children  to  earn  and  to 
enjoy,  these  to  beg  and  to  renunciate.’  This  may  be  a  strong 
way  of  stating  the  case,  but  it  has  in  it  a  large  element  of 
truth.  The  writer  has,  however,  omitted  to  note  the  promi¬ 
nence  given  to  certain  kinds  of  virtue,  and  to  social  obliga¬ 
tions  generally,  in  the  ancient  tradition  of  the  Hindus  and 
the  code  of  Manu.  The  ethical  teaching  of  the  Yedic  hymns 
was  as  pure,  though  by  no  means  so  exalted,  as  that  of  the 
Jewish  prophets.  Although  not  enforced  by  a  like  definite 
divine  sanction,  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  there  was  perhaps 
greater  inner  moral  freedom  in  the  Yedic  system  in  its  purity 
than  in  the  Jewish,  and  less  of  mere  externalism,  until  the 
development  into  Brahmanism.  It  taught  a  doctrine  of 
personal  immortality.  Morality  and  religion  were  closely 
connected,  and  the  doctrine  of  transmigration  had  not  yet 
been  thought  of.  In  this  respect,  as  in  his  more  profound 
philosophy,  the  Hindu  vindicated  his  Aryan  ancestry.  This 
is  substantially  true,  spite  of  the  multitude  of  ceremonial  acts 
which  the  Brahman  ultimately  imposed  on  the  people,  the 
reaction  against  which  so  powerfully  aided  the  new  teaching 
of  Buddha  in  the  fifth  century  B.c. 

Only  the  other  day  we  found  in  a  philosophical  treatise  an 


1  I  use  the  past  tense  in  speaking  of  India  ;  until  it  was  modified  by  the 
British  power,  native  education  seemed  to  remain  essentially  unchanged  in 
its  main  characteristics  till  this  century.  It  has  to  be  noted  that  the  Moham¬ 
medans  who  preceded  the  British  in  India  have  their  own  schools  and  colleges. 


168 


PRE-  CIIRIS  TIAN  ED  UCA  TION 


interesting  evidence  of  the  persistent  continuity  of  the  Hindu 
point  of  view,1  spite  of  European  influences.  ‘  The  knowledge 
of  the  supreme  soul  is  the  ultimate  aim  of  science.  The 
supreme  soul  is  one  Infinite  Lord  of  All,  and  is  the  dispenser 
of  reward  and  retribution.’  The  ethical  conception  finds 
expression  thus :  ‘  Right  knowledge  is  calculated  to  give  an 
insight  into  the  motives  of  human  conduct,  teach  the  exer¬ 
cise  of  sound  discretion  in  all  matters,  and  lead  to  the  attain¬ 
ment  of  final  beatitude.’ 

If  we  may  trust  Dutt’s  ‘  Civilisation  in  Ancient  India,’ 
there  early  arose  (probably  1,000  years  B.c.)  Bralimanic 
settlements  called  Parishads,  which  approximated  closely  to 
what  we  should  call  collegiate  institutions  of  learning. 
These  Parishads  were  in  later  times  understood  to  consist  of 
twenty-one  Brahmans  well-versed  in  philosophy,  theology, 
and  law ;  but,  in  their  beginnings,  three  able  Brahmans  in  a 
village,  learned  in  the  Vedas  and  competent  to  maintain  the 
sacrificial  fire,  constituted  a  Parisliad.  (Dutt,  i.  249.)  To 
these  centres  men  who  wished  to  devote  their  lives  to  learn¬ 
ing  and  who  belonged  to  the  caste  might  go  and  receive 
instruction  in  the  Vedas,  and  in  such  traditionary  law  and 
astronomy  and  philosophy  as  was  current.  Private  schools 
also  existed,  conducted  by  scholarly  men  at  their  own  venture, 
and  to  these  many  boys  were  sent  for  training,  giving  per¬ 
sonal  and  menial  service  in  return  for  instruction.  These 
boys  did  not  necessarily  belong  to  the  Brahmanical  caste. 

Prior  to  the  above  rudimentary  form  of  educational  organ¬ 
isation  it  would  appear  that  at  the  period  of  transition  from 
the  Vedic  to  the  Brahmanic  stage  of  religious  development 
(say  about  1200  b.c.),  the  courts  of  the  kings  were  the  centres 
of  such  culture  as  existed.  Priests,  of  course,  were  attached 
to  these  courts,  and  in  connection  with  them  there  grew  up 
what  may  be  called  *  schools  ’  for  the  study  and  handing  down 
of  the  sacred  hymns  and  sacrificial  practices. 

1  Kalyana  Majusha ,  or  the  Casket  of  Blessings,  an  exposition  of  the  prin¬ 
ciples  of  Hindu  logic,  by  B.  Swami  (Calcutta,  1893). 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  169 


Megasthenes,  the  Greek,  who  lived  in  North  India  three 
centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  and  indeed  all  the  Greeks, 
spoke  of  the  Brahmanical  priests  as  the  ‘caste  of  philoso¬ 
phers  ;  ’  and  with  truth,  for  metaphysics  played  as  large  a 
part  in  the  forming  of  the  Hindu  religion  as  the  Yedic 
hymns  did.  We  are  not,  consequently,  to  look  on  the 
Brahmans  as  if  they  w^ere,  in  the  narrow  sense,  a  priestly 
order.  They  were  a  caste,  and  men  of  Brahmanical  descent 
constituted  the  aristocracy  of  India  —  an  aristocracy  with 
which  learning  and  character  were  closely  associated.  The 
Chinese  aristocracy,  after  the  abolition  of  feudalism,  was, 
as  we  found,  not  only  associated  with,  but  founded  on, 
intellect,  and  renewed  itself  in  every  successive  generation. 
This  large  Brahmanical  body  was,  on  the  contrary,  heredi¬ 
tary,  but  the  members  of  it  always  received  the  highest 
education  which  India  could  afford.  Among  them  were 
the  recognised  chiefs  of  all  learning  as  well  as  of  religion, 
and  they  discharged  many  important  functions  in  the  State. 
In  every  Brahmanic  family  it  still  is,  we  are  told,  the 
custom  to  study  and  learn  by  heart  a  particular  Veda. 
Those  who  desired  to  prosecute  the  higher  studies  were 
attached  to  particular  Brahmans  who  devoted  themselves 
to  the  work  of  instruction.  A  thoroughly  equipped  Brah¬ 
man  was  understood  to  acquire  by  heart  all  the  sacred 
books  mentioned  a  few  pages  back.  And  when  we  consider 
that  the  Brahmanic  colleges  taught  all  the  astronomy  and 
mathematics  known,  and  frequently  carried  their  pupils  into 
the  elaborate  linguistic  treatise  of  Panini,  we  must  recog¬ 
nise  in  the  substance  of  the  highest  Hindu  education  a  fully 
adequate  course  of  liberal  study,  embracing  as  it  did  theology, 
philosophy,  language,  and  science,  while  including  the  whole 
of  the  national  literature  as  that  gradually  took  shape.1 

I  think  it  desirable  to  emphasise  the  fact  that  while  the 
memorial  acquisition  of  the  sacred  writings,  and  this  with 
scrupulous  fidelity,  was  the  chief  object  of  Brahmanical 

1  The  Brahmanical  schools  existing  from  the  earliest  times  developed  into 
important  colleges,  such  as  that  at  Benares, 


170 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


instruction,  the  minds  of  the  young  Brahmans  were  brought 
into  contact  with  philosophical  systems  and  the  general 
literature  of  the  country.  In  such  a  course  of  study  there 
was  both  discipline  and  culture.  A  similar  system  of  in¬ 
struction  we  found  in  China,  but  with  this  difference,  that 
the  young  Chinese  had  the  printed  book  to  help  them.  The 
distinction  between  the  education  of  the  Chinese  and  the 
Hindus  lies  in  the  matter  of  their  sacred  works,  their  philo¬ 
sophical  and  literary  tradition,  and  the  prescribed  goal  of 
their  studies. 

We  are  told 1  that  there  was  a  scheme  of  life  laid  down 
for  the  higher  castes  which  involved  continuous  study,  and 
was  divided  into  four  stages,  viz.  studentship,  married  life, 
retirement,  and  forest  life.  But  it  is  impossible  that  the 
scheme  could  be  carried  out  by  any  save  the  very  devoted 
Brahman.  It  is  chiefly  to  the  concluding  period  that  the 
words  in  the  Manu  Code  apply,  ‘  Let  him  not  desire  to  die ; 
Let  him  not  desire  to  live ;  let  him  wait  for  his  time,  as  a 
servant  for  the  payment  of  his  wages/ 

As  to  the  rest  of  the  nation,  it  would  seem  certain  that  the 
teaching  and  schools  of  the  Brahmans  were  not  only  open  to 
the  caste  of  warriors  and  the  industrial  caste,  but  that  they 
were  expected  to  take  advantage  of  them.  There  was  no 
esoteric  doctrine.  The  only  exclusive  privilege  of  the  Brah¬ 
mans  was,  not  doctrine  but,  the  functions  of  priest  and 
teacher.  Advantage  was  taken  by  many  in  the  two  castes 
next  in  order  of  this  freedom  to  learn.  The  warriors,  more¬ 
over,  had  a  course  of  discipline  in  martial  exercises. 

Of  the  industrial  caste,  while  some  of  these  studied  por¬ 
tions  of  the  ancient  books,  we  do  not  find  that  as  a  class  they 
had  any  special  instruction  in  reading,  writing,  and  arith¬ 
metic.  Boys  followed  the  occupations  of  their  parents,  and 
received  domestic  training  in  these.  Megasthenes,  the  Greek, 
speaks  about  300  b.c.  of  the  absence  of  the  art  of  writing 
among  the  Indians.  The  art  of  writing  certainly  existed 
long  before  the  time  of  Alexander’s  raid  into  India,  but  the 

J  Max  Muller,  Lectures  on  the  Origin  of  Religion,  p.  343. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  171 


habit  of  relying  on  oral  teaching  and  memory  was  inveterate, 
and  the  writing  down  of  traditionary  literature  was  even 
looked  upon  with  some  suspicion.1  In  the  transactions  of 
ordinary  life,  as  well  as  in  learning,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  great  reliance  was  placed  on  the  memory.  The  remark 
of  Megasthenes,  however,  puts  it  beyond  doubt  that  among 
the  population  generally,  writing  was  little  known. 

I  can  find  no  evidence  of  arithmetic  being  taught  to  the 
industrial  class,  but  we  have  to  remember  that  the  very  ele¬ 
mentary  arithmetic  required  in  each  occupation  would  be 
acquired  under  his  master  as  part  of  the  apprentice  work  of 
every  boy. 

The  lowest  caste  did  the  menial  work  of  the  nation,  and 
learned  nothing. 

Speaking  generally,  then,  we  may  say  that  for  1,000  years 
B.c.  the  Brahmanical  education  was  extensive  and  thorough, 
and  that  it  was  shared  in  to  a  certain  extent  by  a  consider¬ 
able  number  in  the  second  and  third  castes.  It  was,  how¬ 
ever,  entirely  oral  in  the  earlier  centuries ;  but  later,  it  em¬ 
braced  reading  and  writing,  and  an  introduction  to  the  epic 
literature  as  well  as  to  the  sacred  books  :  probably  also  to 
mathematics.2 

Apart  from  such  literary  and  religious  education  as  the 
more  ambitious  might  gain  for  themselves  by  the  help  of  the 
Brahmanic  teachers,  the  members  of  the  second  and  third 
castes  received  their  education  from  the  laws,  tradition,  and 
customs  of  their  country  as  handed  down  through  the  family. 
It  seems  to  me,  however,  that  it  was  to  the  village  commune, 
so  universal  a  feature  of  Indian  social  organisation,  that  the 
young  chiefly  owed  the  education  which  is  elsewhere  chiefly 

1  Yirgil  (AEn.  vi.  74)  expresses  well  this  objection  to  the  written  word 
common  to  all  the  Oriental  races  : 

‘  Eoliis  tantum  ne  carmina  manda, 

Ne  turbata  volent  rapidis  ludibria  ventis  : 

Ipsa  canas,  oro.’ 

2  I  think  that  to  say  more  than  this  is  to  infer  more  than  the  actual  facts 

justify. 


172 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


given  by  family  tradition.  These  communes  have  always 
exercised  a  potent  influence:  and  I  am  the  more  disposed 
to  substitute  the  commune  for  the  family  as  the  vehicle  and 
organ  of  the  education  of  tradition,  because  of  the  position  of 
woman  among  the  Hindus,  of  which  I  shall  shortly  speak. 
But  what  was  the  nature  of  this  traditionary  oral  village 
teaching  ?  Apart  from  religious  and  ceremonial  acts  and  the 
settlement  of  questions  moral  and  legal  arising  among  them¬ 
selves,  we  may  safely  say  that  the  teaching  was  of  a  kind 
that  naturally  would  find  acceptance  among  a  religious,  con¬ 
templative,  and  ethically  disposed  people  —  the  teaching  of 
fables,  allegories,  and  parables.  These  fireside  tales  seem  to 
have  been  numerous.  And  that  this  must  have  been  so  we 
find  from  two  works  published  in  post-christian  times  which 
contain  popular  stories  embodying  the  moral  faith  of  the 
people.  Their  oldest  collection  of  fables  and  proverbs  is 
called  the  ‘  Pantschatantra ;  ’  it  dates  from  the  fifth  century 
after  Christ,  and  was  translated  in  the  sixth  century  into 
Persian  under  the  name  of  ‘  The  Friend  of  Knowledge  then 
from  Persian  into  the  Arabic,  from  the  Arabic  into  the 
Greek,  Turkish,  Syrian,  Hebrew,  Spanish,  Italian,  English, 
French,  and  German.  In  that  book  we  find  such  utterances 
as  the  following ;  and  when  we  consider  that  the  book  is  full 
of  fable  and  allegory,  and  consider  further  its  poetic  feeling, 
we  become  alive  to  the  spirit  that  animates  Hindu  life  and 
education  among  the  masses  of  the  people. 

1  As  the  tree  shades  the  man  who  is  about  to  cut  it  down,  and  as 
the  moon  shines  in  the  hut  even  of  the  lowliest  Chandala,  so  must 
a  man  love  those  who  hate  him.’ 

‘Be  humble,  for  the  tender  grass  bows  itself  unhurt  before  the 
storm,  while  mighty  trees  are  shattered  to  pieces  by  it/ 

4  Virtue,  after  which  man  ought  to  strive,  needs  a  mighty  effort, 
for  a  cocoanut  falls  not  through  the  shaking  of  a  crow.’ 

‘  A  knowledge  of  arms  and  of  learning  are  both  equally  very 
famous,  but  the  first  is  in  an  old  man  folly,  the  second  is  worthy 
of  honour  at  every  period  of  life.’ 

‘A  man  without  knowledge,  though  he  possess  youth  and 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  173 


beauty  and  high  birth,  does  not  excel,  like  the  odourless  Kinchuka 
flower.’ 

‘  Education  is  higher  than  beauty  and  concealed  treasures.  It 
accompanies  us  on  our  journey  through  strange  places  and  gives  us 
inexhaustible  strength.’ 

‘  The  wise  man  must  strive  to  gain  knowledge  and  wealth  as  if 
he  were  not  subject  to  death,  but  the  duties  of  religion  he  must 
fulfil  as  if  death  were  hovering  already  on  his  lips.’ 

‘  Like  as  figures  on  a  new  vase  are  not  easily  washed  out,  so  is  it 
with  wisdom  of  youth,  through  the  charm  of  fable.’ 

Such  are  some  of  the  sentiments  on  which  the  Indian 
youth  was  reared  —  all  conveyed  through  a  mass  of  fable  and 
allegory.  The  Hitopade§a  is  a  subsequent  collection  (see 
Fritze’s  German  translation)  of  a  similar  kind.  What  a  con¬ 
trast  they  present  to  the  popular  literary  inheritance  of  the 
Egyptians  and  Chinese ! 1 


Woman 

The  position  of  the  woman  among  the  Hindus  was  always 
that  of  subordination  and  subjection  to  the  man.  The  esti¬ 
mate  of  female  character  and  possibilities  was  low.  ‘  A  female 
child,  a  young  girl,  a  wife,  shall  never  do  anything  according 
to  their  own  will,  not  even  in  their  own  house.  While  a 
child  she  shall  depend  on  her  father ;  during  her  youth  on 
her  husband ;  and,  when  a  widow,  on  her  sons.’  (Manu,  v. 
147.)  Women  were  regarded  as  essentially  inferior  to  man, 
and  having  for  the  sole  purpose  of  their  existence  the  bear¬ 
ing  of  children  and  the  tending  of  the  husband.  As  might 
be  expected  from  this  view  of  the  place  of  woman,  she  was 
excluded  from  all  instruction.  So  strong,  indeed,  was  the 
prejudice  against  the  education  of  women,  that  the  power  to 
read  and  write  was  regarded  as  a  reproach  to  them.  The 
only  exception  was  in  the  case  of  the  dancing  girls  —  these 
being  daughters  of  various  castes  devoted,  when  yet  children, 

1  I  see  just  advertised  (1895)  a  series  of  translations  of  Hindu  tales  which 
formed  part,  and  probably  a  large  part,  of  the  educational  material  of  the 
people, 


174 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


to  the  services  of  the  temple.  As  servants  of  the  temple  and 
‘  maidens  of  the  god/  the  dancing  girls  had  to  cultivate  their 
intelligence;  mothers  of  households,  on  the  contrary,  their 
heart  only,  lest  they  should  be  drawn  away  by  intellectual 
cultivation  from  domestic  duties.  The  female  servants  of  the 
temple  were  instructed  in  reading,  writing,  music,  dancing, 
and  singing.  Their  duties  were  to  sing  the  praises  of  the 
god  they  served,  and  to  dance  on  festive  occasions.  They 
were  divided  into  two  classes  —  the  better  class  being  con¬ 
fined  within  the  temple,  and  restricted  to  temple  services ; 
the  second  and  lower  class  being  allowed  greater  freedom, 
and  permission  to  perform  at  marriage  festivities  and  the 
banquets  of  the  nobility. 

It  is  because  of  the  position  occupied  by  women  that  I 
have  assigned  more  influence  to  the  commune  than  to  the 
family  in  the  education  of  the  young  Hindu.  It  has  to  be 
noted,  however,  that  in  early  Yedic  times,  the  authorship  of 
hymns  and  songs  was  ascribed  to  women,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Israelites. 

Method  and  Discipline.  Teachers.  —  We  are  told 
that  the  teacher  must  himself  have  passed  through  the 
recognised  curriculum,  and  have  fulfilled  all  the  duties  of  a 
Brahmanical  student  ( brcihmakarin )  before  he  is  allowed  to 
become  a  teacher,  and  he  must  teach  such  students  only  as 
submit  to  all  requirements  imposed  by  usage.  The  method 
of  instruction  was,  as  I  have  said,  oral  tradition,  and  the 
memory  was  consequently  called  upon  to  bear  a  burden 
which  to  a  European  would  be  intolerable.  The  rote  char¬ 
acter  of  the  teaching  began  from  the  beginning ;  for  the  boy 
learned  the  alphabet  by  heart  and  some  ten  or  twenty  pages 
of  Sanskrit  before  he  could  understand  a  word.  Thereafter, 
explanation  came  (more  or  less)  ;  but  the  main  object  was  to 
learn  the  sacred  books  accurately  by  heart,  not  from  a  printed 
page  but  from  the  mouth  of  a  teacher.  The  following  is 
from  Max  Muller’s  ‘  Lectures  on  the  Origin  of  Keligion/  p. 
159,  and  are  the  directions  given  in  an  authoritative  Sanskrit 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  175 


book.  The  teacher,  we  are  told,  should  settle  down  in  a 
proper  place.  If  he  has  only  one  pupil  or  two,  they  should 
sit  on  his  right  side  :  if  more,  they  must  sit  as  there  is  room 
for  them.  At  the  beginning  of  each  lecture  the  pupils  em¬ 
brace  the  feet  of  their  teacher  and  say :  ‘  Bead,  sir.’  The 
teacher  answers:  ‘  Om’  (yes),  and  then  pronounces  two 
words,  or,  if  it  is  a  compound,  one.  When  the  teacher  has 
pronounced  one  word  or  two,  the  first  pupil  repeats  the  first 
word,  but  if  there  is  anything  that  requires  explanation  the 
pupil  says  ‘  Sir  ’ ;  and  after  it  has  been  explained  to  him 
‘  Om  (yes),  sir.’ 

‘In  this  manner  they  go  on  till  they  have  finished  a 
prasna  (question),  which  consists  of  three  verses,  or,  if  they 
are  verses  of  more  than  forty  to  forty-two  syllables,  of  two 
verses.  If  they  are  pankti-verses  of  forty  to  forty-two  sylla¬ 
bles  each,  a  prasna  may  comprise  either  two  or  three ;  and 
if  a  hymn  consists  of  one  verse  only,  that  is  supposed  to  form 
a  prasna.  After  the  prasna  is  finished  they  have  all  to 
repeat  it  once  more  and  then  to  go  on  learning  it  by  heart, 
pronouncing  every  syllable  with  the  high  accent.  After  the 
teacher  has  first  told  a  prasna  to  his  pupil  on  the  right,  the 
others  go  round  him  to  the  right  and  this  goes  on  till  the 
whole  lecture  is  finished;  a  lecture  consisting  generally  of 
sixty  (?)  prasnas.  At  the  end  of  the  last  half  verse  the 
teacher  says  “Sir,”  and  the  pupil  replies  “  Om  (yes),  sir,” 
repeating  also  the  verses  required  at  the  end  of  a  lecture. 
The  pupils  then  embrace  the  feet  of  their  teacher  and  are 
dismissed.’ 

Only  those,  it  is  said,  whose  heart  and  speech  are  ever 
pure  and  attentive,  can  enjoy  the  full  fruit  of  the  study  of 
the  "Vedas:  and  it  was  considered  a  great  offence  to  study 
them  without  an  authorised  instructor.  We  thus  see  that 
before  the  introduction  of  writing,  and  for  centuries  after,  the 
pupil  learned  by  rote  from  the  recitation  of  the  master,  a 
laborious  and  prolonged  process.  And  when  they  had  MSS. 
they  were  read  aloud  until  they  were  known  by  heart,  with¬ 
out  bein^  necessarily  understood.  Thus,  the  receiving  of 


176 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


tradition  from  the  lips  of  a  master  was  necessarily  the  form 
of  all  teaching,  and  the  attitude  of  the  learner  was  servile 
acceptance.  This  notion  of  instruction  both  as  regards 
method  and  the  relation  of  pupil  to  teacher  was,  as  I  have 
frequently  said,  characteristic  of  the  Oriental  generally,  and 
still  is  so,  spite  of  printing  and  books. 

The  discipline  among  the  Hindus  generally  seems  to  have 
been  gentle,  and  only  in  the  extremest  cases  was  there  any 
severity.  Manu  says :  ‘  Good  instruction  must  be  given  to 
pupils  without  unpleasant  sensations,  and  the  teacher  who 
reverences  virtue  must  use  sweet  and  gentle  words.  If  a 
scholar  is  guilty  of  a  fault,  his  instructor  may  punish  him 
with  severe  words,  and  threaten  that  on  the  next  offence  he 
will  give  him  blows ;  and,  if  the  fault  is  committed  in  cold 
weather,  the  teacher  may  dowse  him  with  cold  water.’ 

The  elementary  schools  (adventure  schools)  of  post-chris- 
tian  times,  were,  like  many  in  ancient  Greece  and  Italy,  held 
in  the  open  air,  the  pupils  sitting  round  the  teacher  under 
trees  in  front  of  a  house  ;  and  when  the  weather  was  bad,  in 
a  covered  shed.  In  arithmetic,  only  the  merest  elements 
were  taught.  Writing,  with  which  instruction  in  reading 
was  closely  connected,  was  first  practised  in  the  sand,  then 
with  an  iron  style  on  palm  leaves  ;  and  finally  on  plane-tree 
leaves  with  a  kind  of  ink.  But  all  this  elementary  education 
(as  far  as  I  can  ascertain)  belongs  to  the  period  after  the 
birth  of  Christ.  In  the  school,  it  was  a  common  practice  for 
a  more  advanced  pupil  to  point  out  the  letters  to  a  beginner. 
They  also  heard  each  other  their  lessons.  It  was  thus  largely 
a  system  of  mutual  instruction.  Dr.  Bell  took  his  monitorial 
system  from  what  he  saw  at  Madras. 


Note.—  The  education  of  India  by  Great  Britain  can  of  course 
teach  us  little  which  is  not  better  taught  by  the  system  of  instruc¬ 
tion  in  our  own  country.  It  is  simply  an  attempt  to  plant  British 
education  in  a  foreign  soil.  It  is  an  exotic.  The  native  dialects 
are  taught  and  natives  largely  employed.  This  British  system  is 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  177 


based  on  a  despatch  of  Sir  Charles  Wood,  dated  July  19,  1854. 
The  main  principle  of  the  despatch  was  that  European  knowledge  * 
should  be  diffused  through  the  languages  understood  by  the  great 
mass  of  the  people,  but  that  the  teaching  of  English  should  always 
be  combined  with  careful  attention  to  the  study  of  the  vernacular 
languages.  With  regard  to  the  wealthier  classes,  it  was  declared 
that  the  time  had  arrived  for  the  establishment  of  universities  in 
India,  conferring  degrees,  and  based  on  the  model  of  the  University 
of  London.  They  were  not  to  be  places  of  education,  but  to  test 
the  value  of  education  obtained  elsewhere,  and  to  confer  degrees  in 
arts,  law,  medicine,  and  civil  engineering.  Such  universities  have 
accordingly  been  established  in  Calcutta,  Madras,  and  Bombay  ; 
and  since  1859  Government  schools  have  been  opened  for  the 
instruction  of  all  classes  of  the  Indian  people.  In  each  Presidency 
there  is  now  a  director  of  public  instruction,  assisted  by  school 
inspectors,  one  of  whom  has  under  his  care  one  circle  or  subdivision 
of  the  province.  There  are  also  colleges  (both  government  and 
missionary)  which  prepare  for  the  university  examinations.  Normal 
schools  for  the  training  of  teachers  have  also  been  established,  and 
attempts  are  being  made  to  spread  female  education. 

It  is  stated  in  Chambers’  ‘  Cyclopaedia  ’  (1892)  that  there  are 
now  in  all  134,000  educational  institutions  of  one  kind  or  another 
in  India. 

Authorities  :  In  addition  to  encyclopaedias  and  references  to  various  authors, 

I  have  relied  largely  on  Dutt’s  History  of  Civilisation  in  Ancient  India ; 
Hegel’s  Philosophy  of  History;  Duncker’s  History  of  Antiquity  ;  Monier  Wil¬ 
liams’s  Indian  Wisdom ;  Max  Muller,  On  the  Origin  of  Religion ,  and  refer¬ 
ences  to  his  other  writings  ;  Tiele’s  Outlines  of  Ancient  Religions  ;  The  Gospel 
of  Buddha ,  by  Paul  Carus  ;  References  to  the  writings  of  Rhys  Davids. 


12 


(B)  THE  MED  O-PEBSIAN S 

In  dealing  with  ancient  Persia,  we  have  to  include  as  part  of 
the  same  nationality  —  Media  to  the  north-west  and  Bactria 
to  the  north-east  of  Persia  proper  or  Iran,  both  of  which 
after  a  period  of  independence  formed  part  of  the  Persian 
empire.  As  the  word  Iran  denotes,  the  race  was  Aryan ; 
and  indeed  it  is  this  fact  which  gives  the  Medo-Per- 
sians  special  interest  to  us.1  They  are  called  Eranians  to  dis¬ 
tinguish  them  from  the  Hindu  branch  of  the  primitive 
Aryans. 

Speaking  without  minute  regard  to  geographical  limits, 
this  branch  of  the  Aryan  race  occupied  the  country  lying 
between  the  Caspian  Sea  on  the  north  and  the  Persian  Gulf 
on  the  south,  and  they  were  bounded  on  the  east  and  south¬ 
east  by  modern  Afghanistan  and  Beloochistan,  while  on  the 
west  the  mountain  range  of  Zagros  separated  them  from 
the  Mesopotamian  valley  within  which  the  Babylonian 
and  Assyrian  empires  had  their  seats.  The  country  is 
a  table-land  intersected  with  beautiful  and  rich  valleys. 
Where  it  descends  to  the  sea  on  the  south  it  is  desert ;  on 
the  north,  where  it  descends  towards  the  Caspian,  it  is  moist 
and  warm  and  abounding  in  vegetation.  Eich  and  various 
as  are  the  products  of  much  of  Medo-Persia,  a  great  part  of 
it  is  barren.  Its  rivers  are  rapid  and  many  of  them  pour 
down  a  great  volume  of  water,  but  scarcely  one  can  be  said 
to  he  navigable.  Physically,  then,  we  find  here  a  home  for 
a  race  in  which  there  are  necessarily  —  owing  to  the  exist¬ 
ence  of  a  high  table-land  and  numerous  deep  valleys  and 
the  decline  towards  seas  on  the  north  and  south  —  much 
variety  of  climate,  production,  and  scenery,  and  at  the  same 

1  Media  was  the  leading  power  up  to  558  b.c.,  when  it  was  conquered  by 
Persia,  of  which  it  long  remained  the  most  important  province. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  179 


time  not  of  so  large  an  area  as  to  exclude  any  portion  of  the 
inhabitants  from  the  various  influences  of  the  whole  and 
from  that  sense  of  unity  which  is  essential  to  all  successful 
polities. 

If  the  physical  characteristics  of  a  home  can  influence  the 
character  of  a  people  we  may  safely  say  that  irregularity  of 
surface  and  climatic  variation  will  have  a  potent  effect.  In 
a  country,  too,  much  of  which  called  on  man  for  a  struggle 
with  nature  —  a  struggle,  however,  by  no  means  hopeless  — 
the  seeds  of  an  originally  vigorous  and  vivacious  character 
would  be  nurtured.  Nature  was  not  so  large  and  oppressive 
as  in  India  where  man  lived  in  a  moist,  torrid,  and  relaxing 
climate,  and  was  overpowered  by  the  mass  and  prodigality 
of  natural  forms.  Although  the  physical  circumstances 
of  a  nation  are  powerless  to  make  it,  they  must  largely 
modify  its  natural  racial  predisposition,  while  they  profoundly 
influence  the  character  of  its  industrial  activities  and  much 
of  its  political  history. 

But  it  is  the  breed  of  men  which  occupies  any  portion  of 
the  earth’s  surface  that  determines  the  historical  drama  which 
is  to  be  there  enacted  far  more,  probably,  than  any  other 
fact.  The  Medo-Persians  belonged  to  our  own  blood :  that 
is  to  say,  they  were  Aryans,  and  gave  this  name  to  what  are 
otherwise  called  the  ‘  Indo-European  ’  races.  On  the  north¬ 
west  the  Medes,  and  on  the  north-east  their  fellow-Aryans  of 
Bactria  constituted,  with  the  Persai  of  the  table-land  and  the 
rich  valleys,  the  Persian 1  people  ethnologically :  these  three 
must  he  regarded  as  racially  one ;  but  all  were  mixed  with 
prior  Turanian  or  Uro- Altaic  tribes.2 

‘  The  first  great  wave  of  Aryan  emigration,’  says  Professor 
Sayce,3  *  which  had  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the 
European  nations,  had  been  followed  by  another  wave  which 
first  carried  the  Hindus  into  the  Punjab,  and  then  the 


1  I  use  the  word  Persian  to  include  all  these. 

2  To  what  extent  the  Aryan  element  had  overpowered  the  Uro-Altaic  ele¬ 
ment  in  Media  is  as  yet  uncertain. 

8  Ancient  Empires  of  the  East. 


180 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Iranian  populations  into  the  vast  districts  of  Bactria  and 
Ariana.  Mountains  and  deserts  checked  for  a  time  their 
further  progress,  but  at  length  a  number  of  tribes,  each  under 
its  own  chiefs,  crept  along  the  southern  shores  of  the  Caspian 
to  the  northern  coast  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  these  tribes 
were  known  in  later  history  as  the  Aryan  Medes  and 
Persians.’ 

The  Persai  spoke  an  Aryan  tongue  —  called  Zend,  philo- 
logically  connected  with  the  tongues  of  Europe.  The  sacred 
writings  were  in  this  tongue  and  are  known  as  the  Zend- 
Avesta.  What  remains  of  these  is  only  part  of  a  large  body 
of  sacred  literature.  When  the  Persian  empire,  as  distinct 
from  the  kingdom  of  Persia,  rose  into  power,  on  the  ruins  of 
the  Assyrian  empire  in  the  sixth  century  B.c.,  the  pure 
original  language  was  already  greatly  modified.1 

The  accounts  of  the  rise  of  the  Persian  empire  are  very 
difficult  to  understand,  especially  since  the  discovery  of  the 
inscription  by  Cyrus,  the  founder.  It  would  appear,  how¬ 
ever,  that  Persia  had  been  gradually  consolidating  itself  while 
yet  under  the  suzerainty  of  Media,  and  that  a  portion  of 
Elam  on  the  west,  called  Anshan,  had  been  incorporated  with 
Persia.  When  Cyrus  arose,  and  as  king  of  Elam,  but  him¬ 
self  of  Persian  descent,  conquered  Media,  he  with  singular 
rapidity  reduced  not  only  Media  but  Bactria,  and  also  the 
ancient  seats  of  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  empires.  He 
then  carried  his  conquests  to  the  west  of  Asia  Minor,  and 
even  to  the  Scythian  country  of  the  Oxus  where,  it  is  said, 
he  met  his  death.2 

1  A  further  stage  of  degeneration  dated  from  the  conquest  of  Alexander 
the  Great  in  331  b.c.  onwards;  and  now  we  have  modern  Persian  so  power¬ 
fully  influenced  by  the  Mohammedan  conquest  in  651  a.d.  as  to  consist  largely 
—  to  the  extent,  it  is  said,  of  nearly  one-half — of  Arabic  vocables.  We  have 
to  do  only  with  ancient  Persia. 

2  The  rapid  rise  of  the  Medo-Persian  empire  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
facts  in  Oriental  history.  But  it  can  be  partially  understood  if  we  bear  in 
mind  that  the  Medes  had  been  long  growing  into  a  commanding  position  as 
a  military  power.  They  had  united  with  the  Babylonians  to  overthrow 
Nineveh  and  break  the  Assyrian  power  for  ever.  Meanwhile  they  had  been 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  181 


During  the  absence  of  Cambyses  confirming  his  father’s 
conquests,  the  non-Aryan  element  in  Media  rebelled.  After 
the  suicide  (?)  of  the  king  in  Egypt,  Darius  Hystaspes  and 
the  leading  Aryan  nobles  extinguished  the  revolt,  re-estab¬ 
lished  the  reformed  Aryan  religion  —  Mazdeism  or  Zoroas¬ 
trianism,  b.c.  521,  and  rebuilt  the  temples  of  Ormazd.  After 
putting  down  numerous  revolts  of  the  people  that  had  been 
conquered  by  Cyrus,  Darius  was  able  to  establish  the  head¬ 
quarters  of  his  empire  at  Susa  and  to  organise  it.  Mean¬ 
while  the  extension  of  the  empire  went  on  rapidly  till  it 
touched  the  Punjab  on  the  east  and  Macedonia  on  the  west. 
At  the  latter  point  and  on  the  shores  of  Asia  Minor,  the 
Persian  and  Greek  met  in  conflict  with  ultimate  results 
known  to  all.  The  empire,  however,  sustained  itself  in  full 
vigour  till  its  subjugation  by  Alexander  in  331  B.c.  It  was 
a  despotism  governed  by  means  of  satraps  ;  but  local  autonomy 
was  everywhere  conceded  —  the  satraps  merely  representing 
the  Great  King,  and  having  a  military  colleague  and  a 
council  with  an  army.  Centralisation  of  government  was 
an  almost  unmixed  blessing  in  those  times,  because  it  was 
only  under  one  supreme  sovereign  that  nations  could  live  in 
peace  and  civilisation  advance.  So  regarded,  the  Medo- 
Persian  empire  was  a  boon  to  the  nations  from  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean  to  Afghanistan,  and  from  the  Oxus  to  the  Persian 
Gulf,  and  an  important  factor  in  the  general  history  of  the 
world.  It  was  an  immense  advance  as  a  humane  and  mor¬ 
alising  agency  on  the  barbarous  empire  of  the  Assyrians. 

One  of  the  most  suggestive  indications  of  the  Persian 
natural  disposition  was  to  be  found  in  that  characteristic  of 
their  imperial  administration  to  which  I  have  adverted 
above  —  the  recognition  of  local  autonomy.  They  did  not 

extending  their  own  influence  to  the  west,  and  were  virtually  masters  of  the 
country  as  far  as  Asia  Minor.  Then  Nebuchadnezzar  had  revived  the  ancient 
Babylonian  greatness,  and  had  subdued  the  south  and  west  as  far  as  Egypt 
and  the  Mediterranean.  Accordingly,  when  Cyrus,  at  the  head  of  the 
Elamites  and  Persians,  came  on  the  field,  the  subduing  of  Media  and  Babylon 
carried  with  it,  as  a  consequence,  a  large  empire  already  reduced  to 
subjection. 


182 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


impose  themselves  unduly  on  subject  nations.  They  organ¬ 
ised  a  fixed  tribute,  and  forbore  to  make  arbitrary  exactions. 
They  had  great  toleration  of  foreign  customs  and  of  other 
religious  systems  than  their  own.  This  characteristic  of  the 
Persian  imperial  sway  is  worthy  of  notice  as  contributing  to 
a  true  estimate  of  the  character  of  the  governing  race.  In 
repressing  rebellions  they  were  severe,  but  not  so  in  other 
circumstances. 

Among  themselves  there  were  seven  tribal  princes  under 
the  king,  and  next  to  them  seven  supreme  judges  and  a  large 
staff  of  officials.  The  government  was  essentially  bureaucra¬ 
tic,  and  all  were  subject  to  the  despotic  authority  of  the 
Great  King.1 

Social  and  Civil  Relations. — Passing  from  the  politi¬ 
cal  to  the  social  system,  note  first  that  here  in  Persia  caste, 
if  we  except  the  hereditary  Magian  priesthood,  was  not 
recognised  as  it  was  among  the  fellow- Aryans  of  India.  All 
may  move  freely,  and,  subject  always  to  the  absolute  author¬ 
ity  of  the  Great  King,  work  out  their  own  lives.  The  policy 
of  the  king  was,  it  is  said,  to  gather  the  great  nobles  round 
his  court  and  to  reward  generously  all  who  did  service  to  the 
State.  Every  one,  even  the  meanest,  was  kept  conscious  of 
the  national  unity  and  felt  himself  to  have  a  share  in  the 
national  activity.  This  community  of  feeling  was  strong ; 
for  example,  in  their  prayers  when  offering  sacrifices  the 
Persian  asked  blessings  on  the  Persian  people  generally,  and 
on  himself  only  as  included  in  the  nation.  The  Persians  were, 
as  compared  with  other  Oriental  races,  virtually  a  free  people, 
though  under  a  despotic  form  of  government.2 


1  I  rely  (not  wholly,  but  largely)  on  the  Greek  writers,  because  there  are 
no  other  sources.  Have  not  some  contemporary  Orientalists  occasionally 
shown  a  want  of  discriminating  judgment  in  discrediting  the  Greeks  ? 

2  Doubtless  Herodotus  is  not  always  to  be  trusted,  but  his  description  of 
the  Persians  seems  to  me,  with  all  due  respect  to  Professor  Sayce,  to  ring  true. 
We  may  discredit  his  history  of  Persia  without  doubting  the  impression  the 
people  and  their  customs  made  on  him,  even  although  he  never  reached  as  far 
as  the  Persian  capital. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  183 


Persian  Character.  —  The  disposition  of  the  Persian  was 
towards  equity,  mercifulness  of  administration,  and  mildness 
of  character.  ‘  The  king/  says  Herodotus,  ‘  shall  not  put 
anyone  to  death  for  a  single  fault ;  and  none  of  the  Persians 
shall  visit  a  single  fault  in  a  slave  with  any  extreme  penalty ; 
but  in  every  case  the  services  of  the  offender  shall  be  set 
against  his  misdoings,  and  if  the  latter  be  found  to  outweigh 
the  former,  the  aggrieved  party  shall  then  proceed  to  punish¬ 
ment.’  They  were  also  a  kindly  and  domestic  people.  Chil¬ 
dren  had  to  yield  absolute  obedience  to  their  parents,  just  as 
citizens  had  to  their  rulers,  it  is  true ;  but  so  convinced  were 
they  of  the  sacredness  of  the  family  tie  as  founded  in  love 
and  reverence  that  they  maintained  ‘  that  never  yet  did  any¬ 
one  kill  his  father  or  his  mother,  but  in  all  such  cases  they 
are  quite  sure  that,  if  matters  were  sifted  to  the  bottom,  it 
would  be  found  that  the  child  was  either  a  changeling  or 
else  the  fruit  of  adultery,  for  it  is  not  likely,  they  say, 
that  the  real  father  should  perish  by  the  hands  of  the  child.’ 
(Herod.)  We  see  here  a  strong  family  feeling  resting  on 
humane  conceptions. 

Further,  when  we  contemplate  the  Persian  at  his  best  (in¬ 
cluding,  as  we  here  may,  under  that  designation,  the  Medes 
and  Bactrians),  we  cannot  but  be  impressed  with  a  certain 
freshness  and  nobility  of  mind  among  them.  A  high  spirit 
and  a  pleasant  and  affable  temper  are  conspicuous :  in  these 
respects  they  form  a  marked  contrast  to  the  Egyptian,  Semi¬ 
tic,  and  Chinese  races,  and  even  to  their  cognates  the  Hindus. 
We  seem  suddenly,  at  a  point  not  more  than  a  few  hundred 
miles  west  from  the  basin  of  the  Indus,  and  as  we  reach  the 
bracing  table-land,  to  encounter  a  new  phase  of  humanity 
altogether  —  surpassingly  interesting  to  us  because  we  recog¬ 
nise  in  it  a  distinctive  European  type.  The  air  we  breathe  is 
no  longer  stagnant  as  in  China,  no  longer  heavy  with  mois¬ 
ture  and  warmth  as  in  India,  nor  so  dry,  stimulating,  and 
exciting  as  among  the  Semitic  races,  but  breezy  and  health¬ 
ful.  We  already  feel  half  way  to  Greece;  for  along  with 
their  greater  freshness  of  mind,  nobility  of  nature,  and  equity 


184 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


of  disposition,  we  find  in  the  Persian  a  friendliness  and  a 
Hellenic  grace  of  courtesy  which  charm  us,  and  of  which 
Herodotus  thus  speaks :  ‘  When  they  meet  each  other  in  the 
streets,  you  may  know  if  the  persons  meeting  are  of  equal 
rank  by  the  following  token.  If  they  are  of  equal  rank,  then, 
instead  of  speaking,  they  kiss  each  other  on  the  lips.  In  the 
case  where  one  is  inferior  to  the  other,  tlie  kiss  is  given  on 
the  cheek ;  where  the  difference  of  rank  is  great,  the  inferior 
prostrates  himself  on  the  ground.’  A  mark  of  their  openness 
of  mind  is  to  he  found  in  the  readiness  with  which  they 
accepted  foreign  customs.  ‘There  is  no  nation  which  so 
readily  adopts  foreign  customs.  Thus  they  have  taken  the 
dress  of  the  Medes,  considering  it  superior  to  their  own,  and 
in  war  they  wear  the  Egyptian  breastplate.  As  soon  as  they 
hear  of  any  luxury  they  immediately  make  it  their  own.’ 
‘  Of  the  family  of  mankind,’  says  a  historian,1  ‘  which  claimed, 
not  unjustly,  the  distinctive  name  of  “noble”  (Arya),2  the 
Persians  formed  one  of  the  finest  types.  When  we  first  meet 
with  them  in  history  they  are  a  race  of  hardy  mountaineers, 
brave  in  war,  rude  in  manners,  simple  in  their  habits,  abstain¬ 
ing  from  wine,  and  despising  all  the  luxuries  of  food  and 
dress.  Though  uncultivated  in  art  and  science,  they,  at  a 
more  advanced  period  of  their  national  life,  were  distinguished 
for  an  intellectual  ability,  a  lively  wit,  a  generous,  passionate, 
and  poetical  temperament  —  qualities,  however,  which  easily 
degenerated  into  vanity  and  want  of  perseverance.  Their 
military  spirit  was  kept  in  full  vigour  by  their  hardy  moun¬ 
tain  life,  their  simple  and  temperate  habits,  and  the  strict 
discipline  in  which  they  were  trained  from  their  youth  up.’ 

‘  In  the  reign  of  Cyrus,’  says  Plato  Q  Laws,’  iii.  694)  ‘  the 
Persians  were  freemen  and  also  lords  of  many  others :  the 
rulers  gave  a  share  of  freedom  to  the  subjects,  and  being 
treated  as  equals,  the  soldiers  were  on  better  terms  with  their 
generals,  and  showed  tnemselves  more  ready  in  the  hour  of 

1  Philip  Smith  in  his  History  of  the  Ancient  World . 

2  Derived  from  the  ancient  name  of  the  territory  Ariana.  1  am  not  aware 
that  nobility  has  anything  to  do  with  it. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  185 


danger.  And  if  there  was  any  wise  counsellor  among  them, 
he  imparted  his  wisdom  to  the  public,  for  the  king  was  not 
jealous,  but  allowed  him  full  liberty  of  speech,  and  gave 
honour  to  those  who  were  able  to  be  his  counsellors  in  any¬ 
thing,  and  allowed  all  men  equally  to  participate  in  wisdom. 
And  the  nation  waxed  in  all  respects  because  there  was  free¬ 
dom,  and  friendship,  and  communion  of  soul  among  them/ 
(Jowett’s  trans.) 

Religion  and  Ethics.  —  The  religion  of  the  Persians 
when  they  first  appear  in  history  in  connection  with  the 
conquests  of  Cyrus  probably  differed  little  from  the  Yeclic 
form  of  Hinduism.  The  elements  were  worshipped  as 
spirits.  The  specific  North  Aryan  development  which  is 
called  Mazdeism  or  Zoroastrianism  came  from  Media,  accord¬ 
ing  to  Darmesteter  (more  probably  Bactria,  according  to 
Tiele)  and  was  in  the  hands  of  a  sacerdotal  tribe  called  the 
Magi.  The  conquest  of  Media  led  to  the  adoption  of  Maz¬ 
deism  by  the  ruling  family  or  families  in  Persia.  It  may 
be  said  with  truth  that  the  mass  of  the  people  never  rose 
to  a  conception  of  the  principles  of  Mazdeism  —  at  least 
during  the  period  which  concerns  us  here.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  was  practically  the  belief  of  the  leading  families,  and 
through  these  it  influenced  the  people  and  determined  the 
general  current  of  religious  faith  among  them.  In  auto¬ 
cratic  societies  the  belief  of  the  few  dominates  the  mass 
much  more  than  in  countries  possessing  what  we  call  a 
free  constitution.  We  are  entitled  accordingly  to  speak  of 
Mazdeism  as  a  powerful  educative  force  among  the  Medo- 
Persians  long  before  521  B.c.  down  to  the  fall  of  the  Persian 
empire  in  333  B.c.,  and  as  exhibiting  the  mental  tendency 
of  the  Persian  race. 

The  fundamental  idea  of  the  national  and  State  religion 
of  Medo-Persia  was  that  a  pure  One  Spirit  was  creator  and 
sustainer  of  all.  We  see  in  this  a  resemblance  to  the 
higher  and  later  form  of  Judaism.  Ahura-Mazda  or  Lord 
all-knowing  (Ormazd),  was  the  name  of  the  Supreme  God. 


186 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


But  even  after  he  was  recognised  as  supreme,  much  of  the 
Aryan  belief  in  spirits  of  the  elements,  and  in  other  spirits 
good  and  evil,  remained  active  among  the  people.  The  good 
spirits  were  now,  however,  regarded  as  subordinate  agencies 
of  the  Supreme  God :  the  evil  spirits  were  the  offspring  of 
Ahriman,  the  evil  one.  Ahriman,  the  source  of  evil,  was  not 
self-originated,  hut  arose  out  of  the  conflict  of  forces  when 
Ormazd  created  the  material  world  out  of  nothing.  Ormazd 
is  all-wise,  creator  of  the  spiritual  as  well  as  the  earthly  life, 
the  lord  of  the  whole  universe  who  will  ultimately  van¬ 
quish  the  evil  that  is  incidental  to  creation.  He  is  know¬ 
ledge,  and  the  ‘  One  that  knows,’  he  is  ‘Weal’  and  the 
‘  One  that  is  beneficent/  This  lofty  religious  conception  was 
attributed  to  a  religious  reformer,  Zarathustra  or  Zoroaster,1 
and  handed  down  by  the  hereditary  priesthood  or  tribe  called 
the  Magi,  already  referred  to.  Among  the  good  spirits  were 
the  gods  of  light  and  fire,  and  the  latter  appeared  in  all  Maz- 
dean  worship  both  in  its  priestly  and  popular  form.  The 
sacred  writings  are  known  as  the  Zend-Avesta. 2 

‘  The  Persian  religion,’  says  Hegel,3  ‘  is  the  religion  of 
light.  The  source  of  light  is  not  identified  with  nature  as 
one  with  it,  but  is  rather  regarded  as  that  which  creates 
and  vitalises.  In  its  human  mental  relations  this  light  is 
wisdom,  goodness,  virtue,  purity,  truth  —  in  its  physical 
relations  it  is  that  which  vitalises  and  makes  beautiful  — 

1  It  cannot  be  said  that  the  ancient  hymns  which  survive  show  that 
Zoroaster  taught  the  doctrine  of  Ahriman  as  a  Being,  but  this  was  the  natural 
outcome  of  his  cosmic  view. 

2  ‘Avesta’  means  the  law;  ‘Zend,’  commentary  or  explanation.  We 
ought,  strictly  speaking,  not  to  talk  of  the  Zend  language,  but  of  the  Avesta 
language.  The  Zend-Avesta  —  the  collection  of  fragments  which  we  now 
have  —  consists  of  the  Yendidad,  a  compilation  of  religious  laws  and  mythical 
tales  ;  the  Visperad,  a  collection  of  litanies  for  the  sacrifice  ;  and  the  Yasna, 
also  composed  of  litanies  and  of  five  hymns  or  Ga  (written  in  a  special 
dialect  older  than  the  general  language  of  the  Avesta).  As  a  whole,  the 
Zend-Avesta  bears  more  likeness  to  a  prayer-book  than  a  Bible.  It  is 
only  fragments  that  remain  to  us  of  the  old  original  text  and  of  what  was 
added  from  time  to  time  by  the  Magian  priesthood.  (From  Darmesteter  in 
Max  Muller’s  series.) 

3  In  his  Philosophy  of  History . 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  187 


physical  light  —  the  light  of  the  sun,  which  is  still  wor¬ 
shipped  by  the  Parsees  —  the  modem  representatives  of  the 
Zend  religion  —  as  the  symbol  of  intellectual,  and  the  source 
of  physical,  light.’  Ormazd,  the  lord  of  life  and  light,  him¬ 
self  emerges  as  pure  spirit  from  the  ‘  unlimited  all,’  and  with 
him  there  is  also  Ahriman,  the  spirit  (or  principle)  of  dark¬ 
ness,  decay,  and  death,  spirit  of  evil,  source  of  all  wrong  as  a 
necessary  incident  of  the  act  of  creation.  Ahriman  is  not 
the  equal  of  Ormazd  —  only  for  a  time  does  he  maintain  a 
seemingly  equal  warfare,  to  be  finally  subdued.  Men  as 
individuals  are  engaged  in  this  warfare,  and  have  to  fight 
for  light  against  darkness,  good  against  evil,  truth  against 
falsehood,  purity  against  impurity;  but  not  hopelessly. 
Ormazd  was  above  all.  We  see  in  this  religion  an  expres¬ 
sion  of  the  highest  type  of  Persian  thought  which  could 
not  fail  to  react  on  the  individual  life  powerfully. 

The  doctrine  of  personal  immortality  was  taught.  After 
death  the  wicked  fall  into  the  underworld,  there  to  be  tor¬ 
mented  by  evil  spirits,  the  good  are  received  into  the  Abode 
of  Song,  the  dwelling  place  of  Ormazd  and  the  saints.  But 
a  day  of  renovation  even  for  the  wicked  will  come,  when, 
by  the  discipline  of  fire,  all  creatures  will  be  refined. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  that  even  a  religion  as  pure  as  this 
in  conception  might  degenerate  into  a  worship  of  the  ele¬ 
ments,  or  rather  retain  an  ancient  element  worship  and  spirit 
worship  as  a  parallel  and  popular  system.  The  Magi  —  a 
powerful  hereditary  class,  represented,  as  priests  in  those 
ancient  nationalities  necessarily  did,  the  philosophy,  science, 
and  wisdom  of  their  nation.  Among  them,  as  interpreters  of 
the  ancient  writings,  there  seem  to  have  been  schools  of 
thought  —  some  inclining  to  the  concrete  and  elemental 
primitive  religion,  as  opposed  to  the  pure  and  Eranian  spirit- 
doctrine.  But  even  among  the  former  was  an  absence  of  all 
that  savoured  of  idolatry.  Herodotus,  who  saw  and  under¬ 
stood  only  the  popular  side  of  the  Persian  religion  which 
contained  some  old  Aryan  elements,  says :  ‘  The  customs 
which  I  know  the  Persians  to  observe  are  the  following. 


188 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


They  have  no  image  of  the  gods,  nor  temples,  nor  altars,  and 
consider  the  use  of  them  a  sign  of  folly.  This  comes,  I 
think,  from  their  not  believing  the  gods  to  have  the  same 
nature  with  men,  as  the  Greeks  imagine.  Their  wont,  how¬ 
ever,  is  to  ascend  the  summits  of  the  loftiest  mountains,  and 
there  offer  sacrifice  to  Jupiter,  which  is  the  name  they  give 
to  the  whole  circuit  of  the  firmament.  To  these  gods  the 
Persians  offer  sacrifice  in  the  following  manner.  They  raise 
no  altar,  light  no  fire,  pour  no  libations :  there  is  no  sound 
of  the  flute,  no  putting  on  of  chaplets,  no  consecrated  barley- 
cake;  hut  the  man  who  wishes  to  sacrifice  brings  his  victim 
to  a  spot  of  ground  which  is  pure  from  pollution  and  there 
calls  upon  the  name  of  the  god  to  whom  he  intends  to  offer.1 
It  is  usual  to  have  the  turban  encircled  with  a  wreath,  most 
commonly  of  myrtle.  The  sacrificer  is  not  allowed  to  pray 
for  blessings  on  himself  alone,  hut  he  prays  for  the  welfare 
of  the  king  and  of  the  whole  Persian  people,  among  whom 
he  is  of  necessity  included.  He  cuts  the  victim  in  pieces, 
and  having  boiled  the  flesh,  he  lays  it  out  upon  the  tenderest 
herbage  he  can  find,  trefoil  especially.  When  all  is  ready 
one  of  the  Magi  comes  forward  and  chants  a  hymn,  which, 
they  say,  recounts  the  origin  of  the  gods.  It  is  not  lawful  to 
offer  sacrifice  unless  there  is  a  Magus  present.  After  wait¬ 
ing  a  short  time,  the  sacrificer  carries  the  flesh  of  the  victim 
away  with  him,  and  makes  whatever  use  of  it  he  pleases.’ 2 

1  There  was  a  fire,  but  the  victims  were  not  burned  in  it  but  before  it,  and 
afterwards  eaten. 

2  At  what  date  Zoroastrianism  reached  its  full  development  is  uncertain. 
The  gradually-growing  writings  and  traditions  were  formulated,  though  still 
in  a  rudimentary  form  doubtless,  probably  about  521  b.c.  Some  would 
assign  a  more  modern  date :  on  the  other  hand,  inscriptions  have  come  to 
light  only  two  or  three  months  ago  (1895)  which  bear  the  name  of  Ormazd 
and  Ahriman  and  must  have  been  cut  out  on  stone  about  480  b.c.  The  Zoroas- 
trian  reformation  of  the  old  Aryanism  must  have  begun  about  900  b.c.  (some 
experts  say  1400  B.c.)  the  sacred  writings  gradually  growing  in  bulk  till  for¬ 
mulated  at  the  date  just  given.  The  Zend-Avesta,  as  we  now  have  it,  dates 
from  about  the  4th  century  A.D.  The  Medes  at  the  time  of  their  conquest  by 
Cyrus  seem  to  have  followed  the  primitive  Aryan  religion,  mixed  with  Semitic 
and  Turanian  elements,  the  worshippers  of  Ormazd  being  only  a  party  in  the 
nation. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  189 


What  chiefly  concerns  us,  as  students  of  the  education  of 
a  people,  especially  where  we  have  no  specific  educational 
institutions,  is  to  bring  into  view  the  religious  idea  as  the 
ultimate  expression  of  the  national  life.  That  a  religious 
system  such  as  we  have  briefly  described  affords  a  marked 
contrast  to  that  of  other  nations  is  evident.  It  was  supremely 
ethical  and  also  free  from  idolatry.  It  gave  a  distinct  value 
to  the  individual  personality,  and  this,  though  it  might  be 
hut  imperfectly  apprehended  by  the  masses.  Absorption  or 
annihilation  of  his  personality  in  Brahma  is  the  last  idea  of 
perfected  bliss  which  would  have  occurred  to  a  genuine  Per¬ 
sian  !  ISTor  would  the  idea  of  stern  divine  law  and  a  rigid 
moral  contract  with  God  oppress  him  as  it  did  the  Jew,  who 
realised  in  God  an  infinite  personality  meeting  his  own  finite 
personality  on  certain  definite  legal  terms.  On  the  contrary, 
the  Persian  seems  to  have  been  a  happy,  easy-going  mortal : 
his  birthdays  were  days  of  festivity.  His  life  was  to  be  a 
struggle  to  extend  the  kingdom  of  Light,  but  withal,  a  cheerful 
and  a  hopeful  struggle. 

The  supreme  virtues  were  —  as  we  might  expect  where 
the  personality  was  strong  and  the  religion  was  a  religion  of 
light  and  truth  as  opposed  to  darkness  and  error  —  truth¬ 
speaking,  and  courage,  Hot  only  were  they  required  to 
practise  these  virtues,  but  they  were  enjoined  to  guard  their 
tongues.  In  the  words  of  Herodotus  :  ‘  They  hold  it  unlaw¬ 
ful  to  talk  of  anything  that  it  is  unlawful  to  do.  The  most 
disgraceful  thing  in  the  world,  they  think,  is  to  tell  a  lie ; 
the  next  worst  to  owe  a  debt,  because,  among  other  reasons, 
the  debtor  is  obliged  to  tell  lies.’  Personal  purity  and  the 
preservation  of  the  purity  of  water  were  also  incumbent  on 
the  Persian.  ‘  They  never  defile  a  river,  nor  even  wash  their 
hands  in  one ;  nor  will  they  allow  others  to  do  so,  as  they 
have  a  great  reverence  for  rivers.’ 

We  know  so  little  of  the  educational  methods  of  the  Per¬ 
sians  that  it  would  be  unjustifiable  in  me  to  dwell  so  long 
on  their  national  characteristics  were  it  not  that  in  the  edu¬ 
cation  of  the  human  race  generally,  and  as  marking  a  step 


190 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


in  its  progress,  the  Persians  are  to  be  regarded  as  a  potent 
factor,  and  were  it  not  also  that  the  current  beliefs,  religious 
and  ethical,  constituted  their  education. 

EDUCATION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  PERSIANS 

There  was  no  educational  system  in  Persia  ;  but  after  what 
I  have  said  above,  we  can  easily  conceive  the  national  result 
at  which  the  education  of  family  life  and  public  institutions 
aimed.  This  it  is  easy  to  infer  from  the  sketch  I  have  given 
of  the  manners,  life,  and  ethical  religion  of  the  people. 
Perhaps  the  following  view  of  the  life  of  the  boy  may  be 
accepted  as  substantially  correct.1 

The  education  of  a  Persian  was  considered  to  begin  at 
his  fifth  (some  say  his  seventh)  year  and  continue  till  his 
twenty-fourth.  To  the  seventh  year  the  child  was  left 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  women  of  the  household.  ‘  Up 
to  the  fifth  year,’  Herodotus  tells  us,  ‘  they  are  not  allowed 
to  come  into  the  sight  of  their  father,  hut  pass  their  lives 
with  the  women.  This  is  done  that  if  the  child  die  young, 
the  father  may  not  be  afflicted  with  the  loss.’  Of  good  and 
bad  the  child  was  not  supposed  to  he  capable  of  knowing 
anything.  Obedience  was  his  sole  duty.  It  was  considered 
wrong  to  beat  a  child  before  his  seventh  year.  The  family 
upbringing  seems  to  have  been  genial  and  kindly. 

From  the  fifth  year,  Herodotus  says,  the  public  instruction 
of  the  boys  began.  There  is  no  evidence  that  any  class,  save 
what  would  correspond  to  our  upper  or  wealthier  classes,  had 
any  education  beyond  that  which  national  customs,  institu¬ 
tions,  and  religious  beliefs  and  rites  would  necessarily  give 
to  all  citizens.  We  are  not  to  accept  what  Xenophon  tells 
us  in  his  romance.  We  know,  however,  from  Strabo  and 

1  Some  write  with  fluency  and  confidence  on  the  ancient  Persian  educa¬ 
tion,  having  apparently  in  their  eye  Xenophon’s  Cyropcedia  (especially  i.  9), 
forgetting  that  it  is  a  romance,  to  be  accepted  perhaps  in  its  spirit  but  cer¬ 
tainly  not  in  any  other  respect.  Much  might  be  extracted  from  the  Avesta 
as  to  the  regulation  of  domestic  life,  but  it  is  difficult  to  date  what  has  sur¬ 
vived,  and  we  are  concerned  only  with  the  pre-christian. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  191 


the  general  evidence  of  antiquity  that  the  boys  of  the  higher 
classes  were  brought  up  together  under  men  of  gravity  and 
reputation  at  the  court  of  the  great  king,  and  also  at  the 
lesser  courts  of  the  great  nobles  and  provincial  governors. 
In  these  central  and  departmental  court-schools  they  were 
trained  in  shooting  with  the  bow,  riding,  the  use  of  the  jave¬ 
lin,  and  other  military  exercises,  and  in  the  course  of  this 
instruction  great  attention  was  paid  to  their  education  in 
truthfulness  and  self-control.  The  story  of  noble  deeds  was 
conveyed  through  the  national  traditions.  The  young  men 
were  rendered  hardy  by  the  severity  of  their  physical  exer¬ 
cise.  We  may  perhaps  see  in  such  schools  an  anticipation 
of  the  mediaeval  schools  of  chivalry.  In  the  first  book  of  the 
‘  Anabasis  ’  (which  is  not  to  be  rejected  because  the  ‘  Cyro- 
psedia’  is  a  romance)  Xenophon  says  of  Cyrus  the  Younger, 
that  ‘  when  he  was  receiving  his  education  with  his  brother 
and  the  other  youths,  he  was  considered  to  surpass  them  all 
in  everything.’  ‘  All  the  sons  of  the  Persian  nobles,’  he 
adds,  ‘  are  educated  at  the  Royal  palace,  where  they  have  an 
opportunity  of  learning  many  a  lesson  of  virtuous  conduct, 
but  can  see  or  hear  nothing  disgraceful.  Here  the  boys  see 
some  honoured  by  the  king  and  others  degraded,  so  that  in 
their  very  childhood  they  learn  to  govern  and  to  obey.  Here 
Cyrus  first  of  all  showed  himself  most  remarkable  for  mod¬ 
esty  among  those  of  his  own  age,  and  for  paying  more  ready 
obedience  to  his  elders  than  even  those  who  were  inferior  to 
him  in  station,  and  next  he  was  noted  for  his  fondness  for 
horses  and  for  managing  them  in  a  superior  manner.  They 
found  him,  too,  very  desirous  of  learning  and  most  assiduous 
in  practising  the  warlike  exercises  of  archery  and  hurling 
the  javelin.  When  it  suited  his  age  he  grew  exceedingly 
fond  of  the  chase  and  of  braving  dangers  in  encounters  with 
wild  beasts.’  Plato,  again,  in  his  ‘  Alcibiades,’  speaks  of  the 
instruction  of  the  sons  of  the  kings  in  the  wisdom  of  Zoro¬ 
aster  as  well  as  in  justice,  temperance,  and  courage. 

Prayer  and  the  holy  doctrines  of  the  priests  were  learned 
(doubtless  from  oral  and  personal  teaching,  not  from  writ- 


192 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


ings)  ;  and  somewhere  about  fifteen  years  of  age  the  boys 
were  invested  with  the  holy  girdle  (made  out  of  seventy-two 
threads  of  camel  hair  or  wool,  and  never  laid  aside  day  or 
night,  as  a  protection  against  the  Devas  or  evil  spirits)  with 
many  ceremonies.  On  this  occasion  the  young  Persian,  after 
reciting  portions  of  the  Avesta  which  he  had  been  care¬ 
fully  taught,  took  upon  himself  a  vow  to  follow  the  law  of 
Zoroaster.  It  was  at  the  fifteenth  year  that  the  boy  was 
held  to  enter  youth,  that  the  family  bands  were  relaxed,  and 
that  he  became  a  servant  of  the  State.  In  his  twenty-fifth 
year  the  youth  was  looked  upon  as  a  man  and  citizen,  and 
was  subject  to  all  duties  in  peace  and  war,  till  his  fiftieth. 

The  highest  education  was  for  the  hereditary  Magian 
priesthood  alone,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have  embraced  much 
more  (so  far  as  we  know)  than  the  traditionary  religious 
writings  which  were  numerous.  The  Persians  were  not  an 
intellectual  people  like  the  Egyptians,  Chaldees,  Hindus,  and 
Chinese.  Life,  with  all  its  activities,  was  dear  to  them.  But 
it  might  he  held  that  it  was  precisely  this  want  of  abstract 
intellectual  interest  that  helped  to  make  their  imperial  power 
so  short-lived. 

The  Semitic  and  Hamitic  races  were  religious  and  devout. 
Their  religions  were  their  political  and  social  bonds.  But 
they  all  were  characterised  by  a  subjection  of  the  spirit 
of  man  to  divine  powers  —  powers,  too,  not  always  of  very 
humane  attributes.  Being  superstitious,  these  races  were 
slaves  to  the  unseen;  and  they  were  all,  save  the  Jews, 
idolaters.  It  was  otherwise  with  the  Persian.  Morality 
and  virility  were  the  governing  ideas.  Personality  and  the 
responsibility  of  each  individual  for  the  diffusion  of  good 
might  not  be  national  characteristics,  hut  they  underlay  the 
national  character.  Their  religion  taught  them  reverence  — 
a  reverence  extended  to  the  great  king  who  was  governor 
under  Auramazda ;  hut  this  reverence,  while  unquestionably 
it  was  subjection,  was  not  slavishness.  The  individual  had 
to  fight  with  and  for  Auramazda  and  the  kingdom  of  Light. 
Truthfulness,  justice,  and  courage  were  accordingly,  as  I  have 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  193 


said,  the  cardinal  virtues,  and  by  these  characteristics  the 
Persians  were,  if  we  may  believe  history  and  tradition,  gen¬ 
erally  distinguished:  in  these  they  educated  their  children. 
The  distinctive  characteristic  of  the  Persian  education  is  its 
devotion  to  physical  and  ethical  training.  Education  in  our 
modern  sense  did  not  exist,  either  as  instruction  or  discipline, 
outside  the  physical  and  ethical  elements.  It  does  not  appear 
that  the  women  had  any  save  domestic  training,  but  it  is 
important  to  note  that  they  held  a  higher  position  in  the 
family  life  than  was  usual  in  the  East. 

As  to  method.  —  Where  there  is  no  instruction  in  litera¬ 
ture,  &c.,  there  is  no  room  for  method  as  applied  to  intellec¬ 
tual  acquisition  and  discipline.  The  method  of  moral  training 
was  the  mingling  of  the  young  with  their  seniors,  on  which 
Crete  and  Sparta  and  early  Rome  also  mainly  relied. 

This  is  all  that  can  be  said,  with  even  an  approximation  to 
accuracy,  about  the  educational  machinery  of  the  Persians. 
It  was  manifestly  only  the  well-to-do  who  participated  fully 
in  the  national  training  —  possibly  only  the  leading  tribe  of 
the  Pasargadse.  All  others  would  be  dependent  on  domestic 
life  and  the  current  of  religious  and  ethical  belief  and 
tradition. 

The  significance  of  Persian  life  and  education  lies  in  the 
combination  of  a  free  personality  with  an  intense  national 
feeling.  I  am  not  at  all  disposed  to  accept  the  sweeping 
estimate  of  their  character  which  approves  itself  to  Professor 
Sayce,  in  face  of  the  universal  tradition  regarding  them,  sup¬ 
ported  as  that  is  by  the  doctrines  of  their  religion  and  the 
statements  of  the  Greeks.  In  the  mere  fact  of  personality 
we  have  the  beginning  of  an  ideal  aim  for  the  personal  life. 
Individual  courage,  truthfulness,  and  purity  were  constituents 
of  this  ideal ;  and  the  ideal  of  man  was  based  on  the  attri¬ 
butes  of  God.  Man  becomes,  under  the  Persian  conception, 
a  personal  factor  in  the  world-order.  Caste,  with  its  depress¬ 
ing  and  restrictive  influences  and  superstitions  and  their 
accompaniment  of  slavish  fears,  is  not  compatible  with  these 

13 


194 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


conceptions.  Accordingly,  I  am  disposed  to  regard  the  Per¬ 
sian  as  the  true  starting-point  of  the  specifically  Aryan  char¬ 
acter,  and  as  marking  the  transition  from  the  Semitic-Oriental 
to  the  Hellenic  type  of  life.  With  a  sense  of  personality 
there  comes  into  existence  freedom  and  many  consequent 
virtues.  The  Persian  thus  seems  to  bridge  the  gulf  between 
the  Oriental  and  the  European.  And  yet  he  was  an 
Oriental. 

It  is  not  our  business  to  trace  the  brief  history  of  the 
Medo-Persian  empire.  When  one  considers,  however,  the 
high  military  and  healthy  ethical  characteristics  of  the  Per¬ 
sian  when  he  was  an  all-conquering  force,  it  is  permitted  to 
us  to  wonder  at  lii£  rapid  degradation  and  fall.  With  so 
excellent  an  ethical  basis  of  national  life,  how  came  it  that 
the  court,  in  less  than  one  hundred  years  from  the  death  of 
Cyrus,  had  developed  all  the  vices  which  are  popularly  asso¬ 
ciated  with  Oriental  despotisms  ?  The  imperial  organisation 
was  perhaps  too  lax  to  be  permanent,  but  the  degradation  of 
the  Persian  character  wants  explanation.  Personal  vanity 
and  love  of  luxury  do  not  seem  to  explain  everything.  May 
we  not  believe  that  had  there  been  an  organised  education  of. 
a  considerable  section  of  the  people  on  the  basis  of  Mazdeism, 
the  empire,  if  reduced  to  manageable  limits,  might  have  held 
its  own  even  against  Alexander,  who  gave  it  its  final  blow  ? 
Or  was  it  that  the  religion  itself  had  become  debased,  and 
that  the  degeneracy  was  due  to  a  light-hearted  unbelief, 
generated  by  luxury,  which  prepared  the  way  for  political 
dissolution  ? 

To  conclude  :  —  The  nation  which  was  most  nearly  allied 
to  the  Persian  in  its  religious  conceptions  was  the  Jewish, 
and  it  is  not  impossible  that  the  tribes  deported  to  Media  in 
the  first  exile  may  have  influenced  Zoroastrianism.  But 
spite  of  a  certain  community  of  belief,  there  was  all  the  con¬ 
trast  which  the  Aryan  and  Semitic  race-characters  would 
lead  us  to  expect.  On  the  one  hand  we  see  slavery  to  a  tech¬ 
nical  legalism,  a  sacred  covenant ;  on  the  other  personal  free¬ 
dom  and  a  freely  discharged  responsibility.  We  may  even  say 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  195 


that  the  Persian  idea  of  God  and  his  relation  to  the  world 
and  the  life  of  man  was  purer,  more  universal,  and  more 
pleasing  than  the  Jewish.  God  attracts  and  does  not  coerce 
with  threatenings.  On  the  other  hand  we  have  in  the  edu¬ 
cated  Jew  a  far  more  intense  conception  of  the  moral  element 
in  God  and  of  the  absoluteness  of  Duty  to  Law.  With  the 
Persian  the  actual  personality  of  God  is  lost  in  a  principle, 
and  the  moral  relation  of  God  to  the  world  and  man  is  more 
generalised  and  less  definite,  and  yet  quite  capable  of  being 
appropriated  by  an  intelligent  community.  In  the  Persian 
idea  there  was  a  possibility  of  progress,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
understand  why  the  nation  did  not  advance. 

The  reader  who  has  accompanied  us  thus  far  will  see  that 
new  elements  of  life  enter  the  world  with  the  Aryan  race. 
The  two  branches  of  that  race  of  which  we  have  been  speak¬ 
ing  exhibit  the  two  leading  characteristics  of  their  European 
brethren ;  in  the  one  we  find  a  certain  simplicity  of  faith 
and  morals  accompanied  with  freedom  of  spirit,  freshness, 
and  *  go  ’ ;  in  the  other,  profound  philosophic  contemplation 
and  literary  excellence.  Both  these  characteristics  we  find 
united  in  the  race  which  now  compels  our  attention,  and 
which  must  arrest  it  much  longer  than  any  other ;  for  in  it 
we  find  the  genesis  of  all  subsequent  human  activity  in  phil¬ 
osophy,  literature,  and  the  arts  that  adorn  and  elevate  the  life 
of  man. 

Authorities  : —  Anabasis  and  Cyropcedia  of  Xenophon  ;  Herodotus  ;  Plato  ; 
Strabo ;  Sir  H.  Rawlinson’s  appendices  and  discussions  in  his  translation  of 
Herodotus  ;  Ranke’s  History  of  the  World ;  Rawlinson’s  Five  Eastern  Mon¬ 
archies  ;  Schmidt’s  History  of  Education;  Hegel’s  Philosophy  of  History ; 
Sayce’s  Ancient  Empires  of  the  East;  Yaux’s  Persia;  Tiele’s  Outlines  of 
Religions  ;  Duncker’s  History  of  Antiquity ;  with  references  to  many  other 
sources,  such  as  Darmesteter  —  especially  his  introduction  to  the  translation 
of  the  Zend-Avesta. 


C.  — THE  HELLENIC  RACE1 
CHAPTER  I 

GENERAL  HELLENIC  CHARACTERISTICS 

Assuming  that  the  reader  has  already  a  fair  acquaintance 
with  Hellenic  history,  I  here  restrict  myself  to  the  exhibition 
of  those  great  and  leading  characteristics  of  life,  religion,  and 
art,  to  which  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  refer  if  we  would 
understand  the  education  of  the  Greeks. 

I  have  in  view  the  highest  type  of  the  Hellenic  spirit  — 
the  Athenian. 

Look  first  at  the  map  of  the  Eastern  Mediterranean.  The 
physical  characteristics  of  the  home  of  the  Hellenic  races  — 
the  variety  of  scenery  which  was  to  be  found  in  a  land 
broken  up,  as  theirs  was,  by  mountain,  stream,  and  sea,  and 
the  pure  and  hilarious  influences  of  the  atmosphere,  were  all 
of  a  kind  to  promote  the  development  of  a  cheerful,  bright, 
life-loving  people.  The  early  separation  of  the  common 
stock  into  tribes  speaking  different  dialects  (Doric,  iEolic, 
Ionic,  and  Attic),  and  the  establishment  on  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  of  numerous  autonomous  little  kingdoms 
tended  to  establish  a  difference,  and  in  many  cases  a  mutual 
antagonism,  of  interests.  Hence,  in  consequence  of  the 

1  Important  Dates  in  the  History  of  Greece.  — Trojan  War,  1183  b.c.  (?)  ; 
Homer  about  950  and  Hesiod  about  850  b.c.  ;  Spartan  power  dominant  in  the 
Peloponnesus,  650  b.c.  Athens  —  Legislation  of  Solon,  590  b.c.  ;  Persian  in¬ 
vasion  and  Battle  of  Marathon,  490  b.c.  ;  Invasion  by  Xerxes,  burning  of 
Athens,  and  battle  of  Salamis,  480  b.c.  ;  battle  of  Platfea,  479  b.c.  Suprem¬ 
acy  of  Athens.  Peloponnesian  war,  431  to  404  b.c.  ;  Defeat  of  Athens  and 
supremacy  of  Sparta,  404  b.c.  ;  Spartan  wars  with  Persia  and  Darius  :  divi¬ 
sions  of  Greece:  ascendency  of  Philip  of  Macedon  over  Greece,  338  b.c.; 
Alexander  the  Great.  Greece  made  a  Roman  province,  146  b.c. 


TIIE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  197 


numerous  centres  of  civic  life,  that  rapid  growth  of  independ¬ 
ence  and  of  the  spirit  of  freedom  which  characterised  the 
Greek,  and  which  was,  in  fact,  the  beginning  of  the  idea  of 
liberty  for  the  whole  human  race.  This  tendency  to  civic 
and  personal  self-assertion  was  strengthened  by  the  island 
character  of  many  of  the  settlements  and  the  activity  and 
energy  called  forth  by  contest  with  the  sea.  It  is  true  that 
freedom  and  the  spirit  of  independence  were  innate  in  the 
Hellenic  character ;  but  they  were  undoubtedly  fostered  into 
an  almost  feverish  activity  by  social,  geographical,  and 
political  conditions.  What  a  contrast  do  they  present  to  the 
Egyptian,  Chinese,  and  Semitic  national  communities,  and  to 
the  dreamy  and  abstract  Hindus,  their  cousins  by  race  ! 

Here  among  the  Greeks  you  have  all  the  grace  and  human¬ 
ity  which  are  noted  in  their  fellow- Aryans  the  Persians,  their 
courage  and  manliness,  their  enjoyment  of  life  and  of  moral 
freedom ;  but  all  these  issuing  from  a  deeper  nature,  instinct 
with  a  broader  human  sympathy  and,  above  all,  animated  by 
an  intense  intellectuality.  In  Homer 1  —  the  first  and  great¬ 
est  literary  representative  of  the  Hellenic  spirit  —  you  have 
all  these  characteristics  so  early  as  about  1000  years  b.c.  ;  for 
Homer  seems  to  have  sung  somewhere  about  180  years  after 
the  Trojan  War,  to  which  the  date  of  1183  B.c.  is  usually 
assigned.  These  poems  (which,  as  has  been  truly  said,  form 
the  end  not  the  beginning  of  a  poetical  period),  so  rich  in 
their  humanity,  so  full  of  character,  of  simple  and  naive,  yet 
penetrating,  reflection,  so  abounding  in  romance,  so  magnifi¬ 
cent  in  their  conceptions  of  the  virility  of  man,  so  touching 
in  their  pathos  and  so  overflowing  with  fulness  of  life  and 
energy,  give  the  key  to  the  Hellenic  character.  They  formed 
the  basis  of  all  Greek  literature  ;  nay,  we  may  say  of  all 
European  literature.  They  were  committed  to  memory  by 
the  Hellenic  boys  and  studied  by  the  Hellenic  youth,  who 

1  It  does  not  matter  to  us,  of  course,  whether  one  man  wrote  the  Iliad  and 
Odyssey  or  not.  But,  I  suppose  no  one  now  doubts  that  these  poems  were  the 
product  of  many  singers,  and,  if  so,  their  interest  and  value  as  the  expression 
of  the  life  of  a  race  are  increased. 


198 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


saw  in  Achilles  a  type  of  free  -and  warlike  Greece,  learned 
to  revere  age  and  experience  in  Nestor,  to  recognise,  in  the 
portraiture  of  the  great  Agamemnon,  the  necessity  of  leader¬ 
ship  even  for  free  men  and  democrats,  and  to  appreciate  the 
oratory  and  the  astute  policy  of  Ulysses  —  a  foreshadowing  of 
a  potent  factor  in  the  life  of  the  interplotting  Hellenic  States. 
A  people  with  such  a  start  in  national  life  could  not  but  he 
great  in  arts,  literature,  and  arms,  if  their  racial  genius  was 
truly  represented  by  their  great  epos.  The  teaching  fell,  as 
we  know,  on  fruitful  soil ;  and  the  poems  were  received  and 
cherished  as  divine,  inspired  utterances. 

We  take  the  Homeric  epos  then,  as  we  took  the  Confucian 
books  in  the  case  of  China,  the  Rig-Veda  and  Code  of  Manu 
in  the  case  of  the  Hindu,  and  the  Zend-Avesta  in  the  case  of 
the  Persian,  to  he  the  starting-point  of  the  inner  life  of  the 
Greeks.  A  natural  humanity  broad  and  various,  instead  of 
religious  conceptions,  lies  at  the  heart  of  Greek  genius. 
Homer  was  the  first  expositor  of  this  humanity,  and  through 
all  Greek  and  even  Roman  education,  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey 
formed  the  minds  of  the  young.  ‘Boys,’  says  Professor 
Jebb,1  ‘  learned  Homer  by  heart  at  school,  priests  quoted  him 
touching  the  gods,  moralists  went  to  him  for  maxims,  states¬ 
men  for  arguments,  cities  for  claims  to  territory  or  alliance, 
noble  houses  for  the  title  deeds  of  their  fame.’  Even  so  late 
as  Quintilian,  in  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era,  we 
find  the  use  of  Homer  and  Vergil  in  the  elementary  schools 
recommended  by  the  most  competent  of  all  educational 
authorities.  ‘  It  has  accordingly  been  an  excellent  custom,’ 
he  says  (i.  8),  ‘  that  reading  should  commence  with  Homer 
and  Vergil,  although  to  understand  their  merits  there  is  need 
®f  a  maturer  judgment;  but  for  the  acquisition  of  judgment 
there  is  abundance  of  time,  for  they  will  not  be  read  once 
only.  In  the  meantime  let  the  mind  of  the  pupil  be  exalted 
with  the  sublimity  of  the  heroic  verse,  conceive  ardour  from 
the  magnitude  of  the  subjects,  and  be  imbued  with  the 
noblest  sentiments.’ 


1  Primer  of  Greek  Literature. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  199 


It  is  in  the  Homeric  epos  also  that  we  find  the  earliest 
indications  of  Hellenic  education.  In*  the  9th  Book  of  the 
Iliad,  Phoenix,  when  supplicating  Achilles  to  lay  aside  his 
wrath,  recalls  that  his  father,  Peleus,  when  he  sent  him  to 
the  war,  committed  him  to  his  care. 

I,  whom  thy  royal  father  sent  as  orderer  of  thy  force 
When  to  Atrides  from  his  court  he  left  thee  for  this  course, 

Yet  young,  and  when  in  skill  of  arms  thou  didst  not  so  abound, 
Nor  hadst  the  habit  of  discourse  that  makes  men  so  renowned. 

In  all  which  I  was  set  by  him  t’  instruct  thee  as  my  son, 

That  thou  mightst  speak  when  speech  was  fit,  and  do  when  deeds 
were  done ; 

Not  sit  as  dumb  for  want  of  words ;  idle,  for  skill  to  move. 

Iliad ,  ix.  443,  Chapman’s  translation. 

If  we  would  understand  Greece,  then,  we  must  start  from 
Homer.  If  we  do  not  read,  and,  while  reading,  are  not 
quick  to  feel  the  charm  of  the  great  epics,  we  shall  never 
know  anything  about  the  great  Hellenic  race,  or  the  vital 
element  in  their  lives  whether  in  school  or  at  home. 

The  most  remarkable  outcome  of  Greek  genius  in  political 
and  social  institutions  as  well  as  in  art  and  literature  was 
to  be  found  in  Athens  —  ‘  the  eye  of  Greece.’  It  is  of 
Athens  and  the  Athenians  that  Thucydides  thus  speaks 
through  the  mouth  of  Pericles,  giving  us  a  picture  of  an 
ideal  civic  community,  which  it  is  not  difficult  to  connect 
with  the  Homeric  conceptions  of  life : 

‘  It  is  true  that  we  are  called  a  democracy,  for  the  admin¬ 
istration  is  in  the  hands  of  the  many  and  not  of  the  few. 
But  while  the  law  secures  equal  justice  to  all  alike  in  their 
private  disputes,  the  claim  of  excellence  is  also  recognised ; 
and  when  a  citizen  is  in  any  way  distinguished,  he  is  pre¬ 
ferred  to  the  public  service,  not  as  a  matter  of  privilege, 
but  as  the  reward  of  merit.  Neither  is  poverty  a  bar,  but 
a  man  may  benefit  his  country  whatever  be  the  obscurity 
of  his  condition.  There  is  no  exclusiveness  in  our  public 


200 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


life,  and  in  our  private  intercourse  we  are  not  suspicious  of 
one  another,  nor  angry  with  our  neighbour  if  he  does  what 
he  likes ;  we  do  not  put  on  sour  looks  at  him  which,  though 
harmless,  are  not  pleasant.  While  we  are  thus  unconstrained 
in  our  private  intercourse,  a  spirit  of  reverence  pervades 
our  public  acts ;  we  are  prevented  from  doing  wrong  by 
respect  for  authority  and  for  the  laws,  having  an  especial 
regard  to  those  which  are  ordained  for  the  protection  of 
the  injured,  as  well  as  to  those  unwritten  laws  which  bring 
upon  the  transgressor  of  them  the  reprobation  of  the  general 
sentiment. 

‘And  we  have  not  forgotten  to  provide  for  our  weary 
spirits  many  relaxations  from  toil ;  we  have  regular  games 
and  sacrifices  throughout  the  year;  at  home  the  style  of 
our  life  is  refined;  and  the  delight  which  we  daily  feel 
in  all  these  things  helps  to  banish  melancholy. 

‘  Because  of  the  greatness  of  our  city  the  fruits  of  the 
whole  earth  flow  in  upon  us,  so  that  we  enjoy  the  goods 
of  other  countries  as  freely  as  of  our  own. 

‘  Then,  again,  our  military  training  is  in  many  'respects 
superior  to  that  of  our  adversaries.  Our  city  is  thrown 
open  to  the  world,  and  we  never  expel  a  foreigner  or  pre¬ 
vent  him  from  seeing  or  learning  anything  of  which  the 
secret,  if  revealed  to  an  enemy,  might  profit  him.  We 
rely  not  upon  management  or  trickery,  but  upon  our  own 
hearts  and  hands.  And  in  the  matter  of  education,  whereas 
they  (the  Spartans)  from  early  youth  are  always  undergoing 
laborious  exercises  which  are  to  make  them  brave,  we  live  at 
ease,  and  yet  are  equally  ready  to  face  the  perils  which  they 
face. 

‘  Then,  we  are  lovers  of  the  beautiful,  yet  simple  in  our 
tastes,  and  we  cultivate  the  mind  without  loss  of  manliness. 
Wealth  we  employ,  not  for  talk  and  ostentation,  but  when 
there  is  a  real  use  for  it.  To  avoid  poverty  with  us  is  no 
disgrace ;  the  true  disgrace  is  in  doing  nothing  to  avoid  it. 
An  Athenian  citizen  does  not  neglect  the  State  because  he 
takes  care  of  his  own  household ;  and  even  those  of  us  who 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  201 


are  engaged  in  business  have  a  very  fair  idea  of  politics. 
We  alone  regard  a  man  who  takes  no  interest  in  public 
affairs  not  as  a  harmless  but  as  a  u  eless  character ;  and  if 
few  of  us  are  originators,  we  are  all  sound  judges,  of  a  policy. 
The  great  impediment  to  action  is,  in  our  opinion,  not  dis¬ 
cussion,  but  the  want  of  that  knowledge  which  is  gained  by 
discussion  preparatory  to  action.  For  we  have  a  peculiar 
power  of  thinking  before  we  act  and  of  acting  too,  whereas 
other  men  are  courageous  from  ignorance  but  hesitate  upon 
reflection.  And  they  are  really  to  be  esteemed  the  bravest 
spirits  who,  having  the  clearest  sense,  both  of  the  pains 
and  pleasures  of  life,  do  not  on  that  account  shrink  from 
danger. 

‘  I  say  that  Athens  is  the  school  of  Hellas,  and  that  the 
individual  Athenian  in  his  own  person  seems  to  have  the 
power  of  adapting  himself  to  the  most  varied  forms  of  action 
with  the  utmost  versatility  and  grace.  This  is  no  passing 
and  idle  word,  but  truth  and  fact  ;  and  the  assertion  is  veri¬ 
fied  by  the  position  to  which  these  qualities  have  raised  the 
State.  For  in  the  hour  of  trial  Athens  alone  among  her  con¬ 
temporaries  is  greater  than  her  fame.’  (Jowett’s  translation.) 

Contrast  for  a  moment  this  picture  of  a  State  with  that  of 
the  nations  we  have  been  passing  under  review !  These 
words  of  Thucydides  portray  an  almost  ideal  political  com¬ 
munity,  towards  which,  indeed,  we  hope  that  our  modern 
life  is  tending.  Strange  it  may  seem  that  a  civic  constitu¬ 
tion  even  though  falling  short  of  this  ideal,  as  Athens  most 
certainly  did,  could  not  sustain  itself  for  ever.  The  decline 
and  fall  of  Greece,  manifest  as  were  the  causes,  yields 
probably  as  profound  political  lessons  as  the  'Decline  and 
Fall  of  Rome’  even  in  the  hands  of  the  stately  and  all- 
comprehending  Gibbon. 

In  connection  with  the  Greek  polity,  however,  let  us  never 
forget  that  when  we  talk  of  the  Greeks,  we  talk  not  of  the 
whole  of  the  inhabitants  of  Hellas  who  spoke  Greek,  but  of  the 
aristocracy  of  free  citizens.  These  rested  on  a  large  body  of 
slaves  who  performed  all  manual  and  menial  work  —  captives 


202 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


in  war,  or  persons  purchased  at  slave  markets  or  the  descen¬ 
dants  of  slaves.  Though  well  treated,  they  had  no  civic 
rights  to  speak  of. 

Religion. — The  earliest  Greeks  brought  with  them  the 
Aryan  religion  and  there  is  nothing  in  the  Vedic  hymns 
which  they  would  not  have  accepted.  But  how  different  was 
the  evolution  of  the  religious  sentiment  from  that  which  we 
have  seen  in  the  Persian  and  Hindu !  The  sacerdotal 
element  was  in  abeyance,  and  religion  partook  of  the 
humanity  of  their  civil  life.  There  was  here  no  Semitic 
fear,  no  Egyptian  awe,  no  abasement  of  human  personality 
before  an  unseen  power  of  possibly  sinister  intentions.  It 
was  a  worship  of  the  beautiful  —  of  Art,  i.e.  the  ideal  in 
nature  and  human  life.  Their  gods  did  not  symbolise  the 
mere  powers  of  nature,  and  the  worship  was  not  an  element 
worship,  though  doubtless  it  rested  on  a  primaeval  adoration 
of  the  forces  and  forms  of  nature  —  earth,  sun,  moon,  dawn, 
spring,  and  so  forth.  The  gods  as  we  find  them  in  their 
specific  Hellenic  development  were  the  perfect  expressions 
of  human  thought  regarding  the  powers  that  worked  in  nature 
and  in  man.  They  were  ideals ;  and  in  these  ideals  they 
truly  worshipped  the  divine  element  in  man;  and  so  they 
may  be,  in  a  sense,  said  to  have  worshipped  a  glorified  and 
superhuman,  but  not  supernatural,  humanity. 

On  this  subject  Hegel  says  in  his  ‘  Philosophy  of  History  ’ : 
‘  It  must  be  observed  that  the  Greek  gods  are  to  be  regarded 
as  individualities,  not  abstractions,  like  Knowledge,  Unity, 
Time,  Heaven,  Necessity.  Such  abstractions  do  not  form 
the  substance  of  these  divinities :  they  are  no  allegories,  no 
abstract  beings  to  which  various  attributes  are  attached  like 
the  Horatian  [e.g.  dir  a  et  sceva  necessitas].  As  little  are 
the  divinities  symbols,  for  a  symbol  is  only  a  sign,  an  adum¬ 
bration  of  something  else.  The  Greek  gods  express  of  them¬ 
selves  what  they  are.  The  eternal  repose  and  clear  intelli¬ 
gence  that  dignify  the  head  of  Apollo  is  not  a  symbol,  hut 
the  expression  in  which  spirit  manifests  itself  and  shows 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  203 


itself  present.  The  gods  are  personalities,  concrete  individu¬ 
alities  :  an  allegorical  being  has  no  qualities,  but  is  itself  one 
quality  and  no  more.  The  gods  are  moreover  special  char¬ 
acters,  since  in  each  of  them  one  peculiarity  predominates  as 
the  characteristic  one;  but  it  would  be  vain  to  try  to  bring 
this  circle  of  characters  into  a  system.  Zeus  perhaps  may 
be  regarded  as  ruling  the  other  gods,  but  not  with  substantial 
power  —  so  that  they  are  left  free  to  their  own  idiosyncrasies. 
Since  the  whole  range  of  spiritual  and  moral  qualities  was 
appropriated  by  the  gods,  the  Unity  which  stood  above  them 
all  necessarily  remained  abstract ;  it  was  therefore  formless 
and  unmeaning  Fate  (the  absolute  constitution  of  things)  — 
Necessity,  whose  oppressive  character  arises  from  the  absence 
of  the  spiritual  in  it ;  whereas  the  gods  hold  a  friendly  rela¬ 
tion  to  men,  for  they  are  spiritual  natures.  That  higher 
thought  —  the  knowledge  of  unity  as  God  the  One  Spirit  — 
lay  beyond  that  grade  of  thought  to  which  the  Greeks 
had  attained.’  (Hegel,  ‘The  Greek  World,’  page  256.)  The 
only  exception  that  can  be  taken  to  this  statement  is  as  to 
the  ‘  substantial  ’  power  of  Zeus.  See  Iliad,  viii.  1-27,  &c., 
&c.  Moreover,  the  tendency  of  the  intellect  of  Greece  was 
ever  more  and  more  to  assign  supremacy  to  Zeus. 

Mr.  J.  Brown  Patterson 1  also  well  says  :  ‘  The  distinguish¬ 
ing  characteristic  of  the  religion  thus  created  by  the  free 
operation  of  the  human  faculties  was  naturally  the  freedom 
and  the  fulness  of  the  display  which  it  contained  of  human 
nature.  It  sought  the  causes  of  all  being  and  all  change  in 
moving  principles  similar  to  those  which  operate  in  human 
breasts,  and  in  doing  so  it  seems  to  have  had  no  principle 
of  selection  either  metaphysical  or  moral.  Whatever  was 
palpable  in  man  it  made  ideal  in  the  divinity.  Accordingly 
we  find  the  fulness  and  richness  of  human  nature  in  the 
gods — the  Hellenic  worship  was  in  truth  the  worship  of 
humanity.  To  the  Hellenic  conception  everything  beautiful 
was  holy ;  everything  pleasant  to  man  was  acceptable  to  the 
gods.’ 

1  Essay  on  the  Character  of  the  Athenian 


204 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


The  pervading  spirit  of  the  Hellenic  religion  has  been  best 
expressed  in  Schiller’s  famous  poem  entitled  ‘The  Gods  of 
Greece/  of  which  I  may  quote  a  few  verses : 

When  o’er  the  form  of  naked  Truth 
The  Muse  had  spread  her  magic  veil, 

Creation  throbbed  with  life  and  youth, 

And  feeling  warmed  the  insensible. 

Then  Nature,  formed  for  love’s  embrace, 

The  earth  in  brighter  glory  trod ; 

All  was  enchanted  ground,  each  trace 

The  footstep  of  a  god. 

% 

But  Nature  now,  undeified, 

Unwitting  of  the  joys  she  gives, 

Unconscious  of  her  former  pride 
And  of  the  soul  that  in  her  lives, 

Regardless  of  her  Maker’s  praise 
And  dead  to  human  sympathy, 

Like  a  dull  pendulum  obeys 
The  law  of  gravity. 

Your  gay  religions  knew  no  sadness : 

They  banished  each  austere  emotion  ; 

What  bosom  could  but  throb  with  gladness, 

When  gladness  was  the  best  devotion  ? 

Whate’er  uras  sacred  then  was  fair ; 

No  pleasure  feared  the  eye  of  God 
Where  roamed  the  blushing  Muses,  where 
The  Graces  still  abode. 

Your  temples  smiled  like  palace-halls ; 

And  there  ye  held  your  dazzling  court 
On  many-wreathed  festivals, 

Midst  thundering  cars  and  hero-sport ; 

And  oft  the  soft  soul-breathing  sound 
Of  dance  begirt  your  altars  fair, 

Each  brow  with  bright  love-garlands  bound, 
Deep-wreathed  in  dewy  hair.1 

1  Translated  by  John  Brown  Patterson. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  205 


That  there  was  a  deeper  vein  of  religions  thought  in  the 
Hellenic  mind  is,  however,  true.  The  Eleusinian  mysteries,1 
the  lyrical  poets,  and  the  tragic  drama,  give  sufficient  evi¬ 
dence  of  this ;  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have  touched  the 
popular  heart  deeply.  Their  instinctive  apprehension  of 
ideal  forms  seemed  to  satisfy  their  religious  needs.  The 
true  and  all-pervading  God  of  the  average  Greek  was,  in 
truth,  neither  Zeus  nor  Athena,  but  Apollo,  whose  chief 
shrine  was  at  Delphi,  the  centre  of  Hellenic  religious  unity. 
He  truly  expressed  their  art-loving  and  ideal  tendencies  in 
all  forms  of  mental  activity,  and  through  his  oracles  con¬ 
nected  them  with  the  superhuman  world.  The  recently- 
discovered  Delphian  hymn  to  Apollo  may  he  here  quoted. 

Fragment  T.  *  Thee,  son  of  great  Zeus,  famous  in  minstrelsy, 
I  will  celebrate,  since  by  the  side  of  this  snow-capped  hill 
thou  dost  show  forth  divine  oracles  to  all  mortals,  after  thou 
didst  seize  the  prophetic  tripod  which  the  hateful  dragon 
guarded,  when  thou  didst  pierce  with  thy  darts  the  sheeny 
twisted  shape.’ 

Fragment  II.  ‘  Ye  fair-armed  daughters  of  loud-thunder- 
ing  Zeus,  who  have  had  deep-wooded  Helicon  assigned  to 
you  for  an  abode,  come  hither,  that  you  may  chant  in  song 
the  praises  of  your  kinsman,  golden-haired  Phoebus,  who,  on 
his  twin-peaked  abode  of  the  Parnassian  rock,  along  with  the 

1  Doctrines  of  a  mystico-religious  kind,  believed  to  have  been  introduced 
from  Egypt  and  preserved  by  a  priestly  family  or  families  at  Eleusis.  The 
chief  temple  was  afterwards  in  Athens,  but  Eleusis  never  lost  the  distinction 
which  associated  the  mysteries  specially  with  it.  Any  Greek  might  be 
initiated  who  was  prepared  to  go  through  all  the  necessary  ceremonies.  The 
precise  nature  of  the  doctrine  revealed  is  not  known.  I  am  not  aware  that 
modern  research  has  gone  beyond  Thirlwall’s  conclusion :  ‘  They  were  the 
remains  of  a  worship  which  preceded  the  rise  of  the  Hellenic  mythology  and 
its  attendant  rites,  grounded  on  a  view  of  Nature  less  fanciful,  more  earnest, 
and  better  fitted  to  awaken  both  philosophical  thought  and  religious  feeling.’ 
( History  of  Greece ,  ii.  140.)  Some  more  recent  inquirers  seem  to  think  that 
there  was  little  in  the  so-called  ‘mysteries.’  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  im¬ 
possible  that  they  had  Semitic  or  Hamitic  relations,  and  Thirlwall’s  judgment 
on  the  matter  is  probably  still  the  soundest.  The  Greeks  seemed  to  be,  in  some 
cases,  becoming  alive  to  the  sense  of  sin  and  the  consequent  need  of  personal 
salvation.  To  this  the  mysteries  as  well  as  the  Orphic  rites  would  appeal. 


206 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


famous  Delphic  maids,  visits  the  rills  of  the  gushing  Castalian 
spring,  presiding  over  the  oracular  hill  upon  the  Delphian 
headland.  Come  with  thy  prayers,  0  famous  Attic  race, 
blest  with  mighty  cities,  dwelling  on  the  inviolate  soil  of 
panoplied  Tritonis ;  on  holy  altars,  fire  wraps  in  a  blaze  the 
thigh-bones  of  young  bulls,  and  therewith  Arabian  vapours 
spread  through  it  upwards  to  the  sky ;  the  flute  with  thrill¬ 
ing  notes  pipes  its  lay  in  varied  melodies  ;  the  golden,  sweetly- 
sounding  lyre  wakes  music  for  triumphal  songs,  and  the 
whole  swarm  of  spectators  to  whom  the  Attic  land  has  been 
assigned  as  a  dwelling-place.’ 1 

The  growing  idealism  and  the  essentially  aesthetic  and  joy¬ 
ous  character  of  the  Hellenic  religion  is  already  visible  little 
more  than  half  way  from  Homer  to  Pindar  and  iEschylus, 
in  the  hymn  to  Apollo,  referring  to  the  Ionian  festival  there, 
and  in  existence  as  early,  probably,  as  730  B.c. : 

'There,  in  thy  honour,  Apollo,  the  long-robed  Ionians 
assemble  with  their  children  and  their  gracious  dames.  So 
often  as  they  hold  thy  festival,  they  celebrate  thee,  for  thy 
joy,  with  boxing  and  dancing  and  song.  A  man  would  say 
that  they  were  strangers  to  death  and  old  age  evermore  who 
should  come  on  the  Ionians  thus  gathered ;  for  he  would  see 
the  goodliness  of  all  the  people,  and  would  rejoice  in  his  soul, 
beholding  the  men  and  the  fairly-cinctured  women,  and  their 
swift  ships  and  their  great  wealth,  and,  besides,  that  wonder 
of  which  the  fame  shall  not  perish,  the  maidens  of  Delos, 
handmaidens  of  Apollo  the  Far-darter.  First  they  hymn 
Apollo,  then  Leto  and  Artemis  delighting  in  arrows :  and 
then  they  sing  the  praise  of  heroes  of  yore  and  of  women, 
and  throw  their  spell  over  the  tribes  of  men.’  (Jebb’s 
translation.) 

To  quote  again  from  Hegel.  ‘  The  essence  of  the  Greek 
religion  is  the  spiritual  itself,  and  the  natural  is  only  the 
point  of  departure.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  must  be 
observed  that  the  divinity  of  the  Greeks  is  not  yet  the  abso¬ 
lute  free  spirit,  but  spirit  in  a  particular  mode  fettered  by  the 

1  Fragment  translated  by  Dr.  Dunn,  H.M.I.S.,  Scotland. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  207 


limitations  of  humanity  —  still  dependent  as  a  determinate 
individuality  on  external  conditions.  Individualities  objec¬ 
tively  beautiful  are  the  gods  of  the  Greeks.’  The  Aryan 
nature- worship  had  here  evidently  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
an  aesthetic  and  idealising  race,  and  spite  of  the  traditional 
tales  of  the  gods,  against  which  philosophy  protested,  the 
recognition  of  the  gods  reacted  on  the  moral  life  of  the 
Greeks  by  virtue  of  the  mere  fact  of  idealisation. 

The  earliest  formulated  conception  of  the  Hellenic  religion 
after  the  race  had  emerged  from  a  primitive  element-wor- 
ship,  is  to  be  extracted  from  the  Homeric  poems  supple¬ 
mented  by  Hesiod’s  ‘  Theogony.’  It  was  in  the  human 
attributes  of  their  gods,  and  the  rich  legendary  tales  about 
them  and  the  heroes,  that  the  Hellenic  race  first  separated 
itself  from  the  religious  and  intellectual  life  of  other  races. 
As  time  went  on,  these  primitive  conceptions  became  more 
and  more  idealised  and  more  and  more  ethical,  till  we  find 
that  even  the  profound  mind  of  an  ZEschylus  and  a  Sophocles 
has  room  for  the  more  important  of  the  subordinate  gods 
alongside  their  unquestionable  monotheism. 

It  is  to  the  philosophers  and  dramatists  of  Greece  that  we 
owe  those  deeper  thoughts  as  to  the  origin  of  things,  the 
nature  of  man,  and  the  moral  order  of  the  world,  which  else¬ 
where  were  a  derivation  from  sacred  books  and  the  monopoly 
of  a  priestly  order.  In  Greece  the  lay  spirit  always  dominated 
—  the  sacerdotal  was  almost  non-existent.  But  even  from 
the  time  of  Homer,  as  I  have  already  indicated,  the  Greek 
recognised  a  supreme  God  among  the  gods  —  Zeus,  the  father 
of  gods  and  men  :  the  all-powerful.  In  his  supreme  hands 
lay  the  order  of  the  world  and  absolute  justice.  Homer  rep¬ 
resents  Zeus  as  executing  vengeance  by  making  the  trans¬ 
gressions  of  men  fall  heavily  on  themselves  or  their  children. 
ZEschylus,  rising  to  a  lofty  conception,  calls  him  all-causing, 
all-sufficing,  all-seeing,  all-accomplishing,  Lord  of  lords,  most 
Holy  of  holies :  and  Sophocles  gives  utterance  to  similar 
thoughts.  Certainly  from  the  time  of  Homer  monotheism, 
or  at  least  henotheisnq  lay  at  the  basis  of  the  Greek  religion ; 


208 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


this,  however,  among  all  races  has  been  found  compatible 
with  a  belief  in  gods.  Blue-eyed  Athena  was  a  great  god¬ 
dess,  but  she  was  only  the  idealised  expression  of  Jove’s 
wisdom,  and  to  her  consequently  he  yields :  ‘  She  only  of 
gods  may  know  that  chamber’s  keys  where  sleeps  the  sealed 
thunder  of  her  sire.’ 1  Bright-haired  Apollo,  again,  was  the 
expression  of  the  oracular  decrees  of  the  father  of  gods  and 
men  —  Apollo,  who  was  the  god  of  light,  saviour,  purifier, 
and  redeemer,  and  ‘  whose  cultus,’  says  Tiele,  ‘  exercised  on 
the  religious,  moral,  and  social  life  of  the  Greeks  so  profound 
and  salutary  an  influence.’  2 

The  fact  of  death  inevitable  and  of  human  suffering,  so 
often  to  all  appearance  unjust,  was  a  deep  problem  for  the 
Greeks,  as  it  has  been  for  the  thoughtful  of  all  races. 
Behind  the  awful  throne  of  Jove  himself  the  Greek  recog¬ 
nised  the  dark  and  fateful  form  of  destiny,  working  out,  for 
gods  as  well  as  for  men,  their  lives  and  fortunes  —  answer- 
able  to  no  other  power,  caring  for  none.3  A  thread  of  mys¬ 
tery  and  awe  accordingly  ran  through  the  web  of  Greek  life  ; 
the  pathos  of  human  existence  was  in  their  hearts  (Iliad, 
xxiv.  passim),  but  their  joyous  and  active  nature,  their  con¬ 
stant  struggles  in  politics,  war,  literature,  art,  and  philosophy, 
accompanied  by  an  all-prevailing  gymnastic,  enabled  them 
practically  to  ignore  the  thought  of  the  essential  evil  in  life ; 
and  to  treat  all  ultimate  questions,  chiefly  through  the  imagi¬ 
nation,  and  not  as  supreme  and  urgent  realities  in  the  prob¬ 
lem  of  existence.  ‘  Forasmuch  as  men  must  die,’  says  Pindar, 
‘  wherefore  should  one  sit  vainly  in  the  dark  through  a  dull 
and  nameless  age,  and  without  lot  in  noble  deeds  ?  ’ 4  What 
a  contrast  to  the  Brahman  and  the  Buddhist ! 

Sacerdotalism,  I  have  said,  was  alien  to  the  Hellenic  cast 

1  iEsch.  Eum.  translated  by  E.  Myers. 

2  ‘Ne’er  spake  I  yet,  from  my  oracular  throne,  of  man,  of  woman,  or  of 
commonwealth,  answer  unbidden  of  the  Olympian  sire.’  — Eum.  616. 

3  And  yet  it  sometimes  appeared  that  Zeus  was  powerful  enough  to  be  him¬ 
self  a  factor  in  fate. 

4  Olymp.  i.  82,  quoted  by  Professor  Butcher,  p.  105  of  Aspects  of  the 
Greek  Genius. 


THE  ARYAN  OF  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  209 


of  thought  and  life.  The  temples  were  simply  the  house  of 
the  god  to  whom  they  were  dedicated,  and  the  priest  (except 
in  the  case  of  some  families  that  had  hereditary  rights)  was 
elected  and  might  be  changed  from  time  to  time,  returning, 
after  he  had  served  his  period,  to  the  civil  life  from  which 
he  had  been  taken.  The  priest’s  duty  seems  to  have  been, 
in  fact,  chiefly  that  of  a  caretaker  and  of  a  regulator  of  the 
manner  of  offering  sacrifices  on  special  occasions  :  he  assisted 
also  in  the  offerings  and  sacrifices  which  others  came  to 
make.  The  oracular  utterances  at  certain  temples  like 
Dodona  and  Delphi  (for  centuries  the  centre  of  Greek  relig¬ 
ious  thought  and  guide  of  its  political  life),  revealing  the  will 
of  the  god  or  future  events,  and  the  magical  cures  in  some 
iEsculapian  temples  would  seem  to  be  the  only  character¬ 
istics  of  religion  which  connect  the  Greeks  with  the  magical 
in  religion.  The  most  recent  inquiries,  it  is  true,  point  to 
both  a  Semitic  and  Hamitic  element*  in  the  religion  of  the 
Greeks,  but  these  elements  were  themselves  Hellenised. 

But  although  there  was  no  priesthood  or  church  in  the 
modern  sense,  to  the  Greek,  nature  was  full  of  deity  ;  holy 
were  the  haunted  forest  boughs,  holy  the  air,  the  water,  and 
the  fire  ;  but  whereas  other  races  accepted  the  belief  of  an 
animated  nature  in  a  prosaic,  and  generally  suspicious,  spirit, 
with  the  Greeks  the  belief  was  characterised  by  amity  and 
joyousness.  There  was  also  a  full  recognition  of  the  gods 
in  the  great  incidents  of  domestic  life  —  birth,  marriage, 
and  death  ;  and,  even  at  banquets,  the  libations  always  con¬ 
nected  the  banqueters  with  present  gods.  All  these  cere¬ 
monies,  however,  seem  to  have  had  an  artistic  quite  as  much 
as  a  religious  character,  in  the  sense  which  other  nations 
understood  religion.  The  relation  of  the  Greek  to  his  gods 
was  an  easy,  pleasant,  and  friendly  one.  Natures  so  bright, 
joyous,  and  high-spirited  were  not  likely  to  dwell  on  the 
mysterious  and  awful  in  religion.  ‘  Truth  and  self-control,’ 
says  Tiele  (p.  218),  *  without  self -mortification  or  renuncia¬ 
tion  of  nature,  a  steady  equilibrium  between  the  sensible 
and  the  spiritual,  moral  earnestness  combined  with  an  open 

14 


210 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


eye  for  the  happiness  and  beauty  of  life,  such  are  the  charac¬ 
teristic  features  of  the  Delphic  Apollo  worship  in  which  the 
Greek  religion  almost  reached  the  climax  of  its  development.’ 

As  regards  a  future  state,  Tiele  points  out  that  it  was  a 
mark  of  the  ethical  character  of  the  Delphic  religion  that  it 
spoke  of  a  future  state  of  retribution  ;  but  this  was  never  a 
definite  popular  belief,  though  taught  by  the  poets.  That  it 
was  an  article  of  faith  among  the  more  thoughtful  is  estab¬ 
lished  by  many  passages  in  Greek  literature,  although  few 
may  have  shared  the  conviction  of  Antigone  when  she  says : 

‘  When  I  come  there  into  the  other  world,  such  is  the  hope 
I  cherish,  I  shall  find  love  with  my  father,  love  with  my 
mother,  and  love  with  thee  my  brother’  (Soph.  ‘Antig.’ 
897). 

Art.  —  The  religion  of  the  beautiful,  joyous,  and  ideal 
received  fit  expression  in  the  sacred  houses,  the  remains  of 
which  are  still  a  wonder  and  joy  to  mankind  because  of  their 
severe  charm  and  refined  simplicity.  It  is  easy  to  see  that 
Greek  art  and  Greek  religion  were  necessarily  one :  both 
were  the  expression  of  the  same  ideal  conceptions  : 

‘  How  grand  and  chaste  is  the  Greek  temple !  ’  says 
Hettner,  ‘  so  simple  in  its  beauty,  so  solemn  in  its  repose, 
so  divine  in  its  serenity !  It  is  not  like  our  churches  —  a 
place  of  assembly  for  the  devout  congregation ;  it  contains 
only  the  statue  of  the  god  to  whom  it  is  consecrated,  and  his 
sacred  treasures  and  votive  offerings.  It  stands,  therefore, 
quite  apart  from  every  profane  environment.  An  encircling 
wall  guards  a  wide,  sacred  precinct ;  and  in  the  midst  of  this 
rises,  with  far-seen  splendour  of  marble  and  of  gold,  the 
house  of  the  god.  Nor  may  it  stand  on  the  common  earth, 
trod  by  the  feet  of  mortal  man.  Broad  and  mighty  it  is  true, 
the  fair  structure  stretches  along  the  ground  as  the  natural 
basis  of  existence :  but  three  mighty  strata  of  steps  lift  it 
above  the  level  of  everyday  reality,  and  bear  it,  like  a  great 
votive  gift,  towards  heaven.  The  god  who  dwells  within  the 
cella  is  no  dark  forbidding  deity ;  he  is  a  god  of  joy  and 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  211 


perpetual  serenity  —  a  god  of  light.  To  embrace  the  light 
and  air,  the  portico  throws  itself  wide  ;  and  all  round  runs  a 
colonnade,  connecting  the  narrow  dwelling  of  the  god  with 
the  happy  outer  world.  Joyous  in  their  living,  elastic 
strength,  rise  these  pillars.  The  counterpressure  of  the 
superstructure  which  it  is  their  purpose  to  support,  receives 
and  checks  them  as  they  ascend.  Above  them  rest  the 
superincumbent  beams  of  the  ceiling ;  and  over  these  spreads 
the  lofty  roof  drooping  on  both  sides  its  broad  overshadow¬ 
ing  wings  as  if  to  warn  and  compel  the  soaring  and  aspiring 
pillars  to  remain  contented  with  the  solid  sufficient  earth, 
the  fair  divine  Now,  and  seek  no  beyond.  It  is  this  solution 
of  opposing  forces,  this  aspiration  which  with  glad  and  will¬ 
ing  self-control  returns  within  its  natural  limits,  this  living, 
satisfied,  and  harmonious  repose  which  reflects  on  the  mind 
of  the  beholder  such  a  grateful  calm.  The  enjoyment  we 
have  in  the  intelligent  contemplation  of  a  Greek  temple  is  a 
homage  to  and  a  celebration  of  the  divine,  eternal  Sophrosyne.’ 
A  speaker  representing  Egypt  in  one  of  Professor  Ebers’  novels, 
says :  ‘  There  is  such  a  great  difference  between  the  Greek 
and  Egyptian  works  of  art.  When  I  went  into  our  own 
gigantic  temples  to  pray  I  always  felt  as  if  I  must  prostrate 
myself  in  the  dust  before  the  greatness  of  the  gods,  and  en¬ 
treat  them  not  to  crush  so  insignificant  a  worm  ;  but  in  the 
temple  of  Hera  at  Samos  I  could  only  raise  my  hands  to 
heaven  in  joyful  thanksgiving  that  the  gods  had  made  the 
earth  so  beautiful.  In  Egypt  I  always  believed  as  I  had 
been  taught :  “  Life  is  a  sleep ;  we  shall  not  awake  to  our 
true  existence  in  the  kingdom  of  Osiris  till  the  hour  of 
death :  ”  but  in  Greece  I  thought :  “  I  am  born  to  live  and  to 
enjoy  this  cheerful,  bright,  and  blooming  world.”  ’ 

In  statuary  also  the  religious  idea  found  expression. 
Pheidias,  the  greatest  of  Greek  artists,  wrought  statues 
designed  to  give  a  moral,  lofty  idea  of  deity.  ‘  In  the 
Athena  of  the  Parthenon,’  says  Tiele,1  ‘  and  the  Zeus  of 
Olympia  and  the  ancient  tragedy,  the  religion  of  the  Hellenes 

1  Outlines  of  the  History  of  Ancient  Religions ,  p.  224. 


212 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


readied  the  climax  of  its  development.  The  ideal  humani¬ 
sation  of  deity  for  which  the  way  was  prepared  by  the  cultus 
of  the  Delphic  Apollo  was  perfected  at  Athens  by  iEschylus, 
Sophocles,  and  Pheidias.’  The  great  Pericles  ‘  was  led/  says 
Ranke,1  ‘  in  promoting  art  to  strengthen  religion.’ 

Such,  concisely  summed  up,  was  the  Greek  religion  as 
realised  in  architecture  and  the  plastic  arts  —  the  natural 
and  necessary  expression  of  their  religious  sentiment. 

Art  in  literature  distinguished  the  Hellenic  race  no  less 
than  their  work  in  marble  and  stone.  They  created  a 
language  subtle,  far-reaching,  and  flexible,  and  fit  to  give 
expression  to  every  form  of  literature.  These  forms,  lyrical, 
epic,  dramatic,  historical,  philosophical,  they  indeed  created  ; 
and  they  still  are  the  teachers  of  mankind.  Their  attitude 
to  all  knowledge  was  open  and  receptive.  Nothing  was 
common  or  unclean.  What  a  contrast  to  the  nations  we 
have  spoken  of  in  past  chapters !  ‘  The  Greeks/  says  Pro¬ 

fessor  Butcher  of  Edinburgh,2  ‘before  any  other  people  of 
antiquity,  possessed  the  love  of  knowledge  for  its  own  sake. 
To  see  things  as  they  really  are,  to  discern  their  meanings 
and  adjust  their  relations,  was  with  them  an  instinct  and  a 
passion.  Their  methods  in  science  and  philosophy  might  be 
very  faulty,  and  their  conclusions  often  absurd,  but  they  had 
that  fearlessness  of  intellect  which  is  the  first  condition  of 
seeing  truly.  Poets  and  philosophers  alike  looked  with  un¬ 
flinching  eye  on  all  that  met  them,  on  man  and  the  world, 
on  life  and  death.  They  interrogated  Nature,  and  sought  to 
wrest  her  secrets  from  her,  without  misgiving  and  without 
afterthought.  They  took  no  count  of  the  consequences. 
“  Let  us  follow  the  argument  whithersoever  it  leads,”  may 
be  taken  not  only  as  the  motto  of  the  Platonic  philosophy, 
but  as  expressing  one  side  of  the  Greek  genius.’  Ranke, 
again,  says  (‘History  of  the  World/  viii.  7):  ‘There  is 
something  almost  miraculous  in  this  simultaneous  or  nearly 

1  History  of  the  World,  p.  229. 

2  Some  Aspects  of  the  Greek  Genius. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  213 

simultaneous  appearance  of  such  different  types  of  genius 
accomplishing  in  poetry,  philosophy,  and  history  the  greatest 
feats  which  the  human  mind  has  ever  performed.  Each  is 
original  and  strikes  out  his  own  line,  but  all  work  in  har¬ 
mony.  By  one  or  the  other  of  these  masters  are  set  forth  all 
the  greatest  problems  concerning  things  divine  and  human. 
Athens  rejoiced  in  the  possession  of  a  theatre  the  like  of 
which,  for  sport  or  earnest,  has  never  been  seen  in  any  other 
city.  The  people  lived  in  the  constant  enjoyment  of  the 
noblest  dramatic  productions.  Sophocles  was  not  dispos¬ 
sessed  by  Euripides  :  their  works  appeared  at  the  same  time 
on  the  stage.  The  history  of  Herodotus  was  read  aloud  in 
public  meetings.  Thucydides  was  reserved  for  more  private 
study,  but  his  works  had  a  wide  circulation  in  writing.’ 

Manhood. — Observe,  next,  how  Hellenic  idealism  en¬ 
tered  into  their  conception  of  man  himself.  If  gods  were 
human,  men  might  be  divine.  A  perfect  body,  the  easy  and 
unencumbered  vehicle  of  a  free  and  happy  spirit,  was  the 
object  of  their  admiration.  The  Olympic  dust  was  the  richest 
treasure  which  a  young  Greek  could  gather.  Speaking  of  the 
harmonious  athletic  of  the  Greeks,  Hettner  says,  ‘  Let  us 
follow  all  Greece  to  the  great  centre  of  national  unity,  the 
plain  of  Olympia.’  Here  the  victor  was  raised  to  the  eleva¬ 
tion  of  the  gods  themselves.  ‘  Poets  like  Simonides  and 
Pindar  sang  immortal  songs  of  victory  in  his  praise ;  the  best 
cities  were  anxious  that  he  should  be  enrolled  among  their 
citizens  ;  and  when  he  reached  his  home,  the  gate  and  part  of 
the  city  wall  were  pulled  down  in  token  that  a  city  which 
produced  such  men  needed  not  the  protection  of  walls.  The 
conqueror  entered  in  festive  procession  drawn  by  four  white 
horses,  proudly  clad  in  purple  and  wearing  on  his  head  the 
olive  wreath  he  had  won.  .  .  .  Putting  these  wonderful  facts 
in  array  before  our  minds,  we  cannot  fail  to  feel  deeply  how 
wide  is  the  difference  between  the  moral  basis  on  which 
Greek  antiquity  rests  and  our  modes  of  life  and  thought  in 
modern  times.  We  men  of  to-day  can  hardly  even  see  how 


214 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


the  Greeks,  the  most  intellectual  nation  the  world  has  seen, 
could  make  their  highest  national  festival  a  gymnastic  one, 
far  less  can  we  sympathise  with  or  imagine  ourselves  actually 
taking  part  in  this  truly  Bacchic  enthusiasm  for  the  Olympic 
victor.’ 

And  for  what  did  they  contend  ?  Not  for  money  rewards, 
but  for  glory  alone  —  their  success  being  signalised  by  a 
reward  in  itself  worthless :  ‘  at  the  Olympic  games,  an  olive- 
crown  or  garland ;  at  the  Isthmian,  one  of  pine ;  at  the 
Nemean,  one  of  parsley;  at  the  Pythian,  apples  from  the 
trees  sacred  to  Apollo ;  and  at  the  Panathensea,  olives  from 
the  tree  of  Minerva.’  (Lucian,  ‘  Anach.’)  ‘  If  we  look  at  the 
inner  nature  of  these  sports,’  says  Hegel,  ‘  we  shall  first 
observe  how  sport  itself  is  opposed  to  serious  business,  to 
dependence  and  need.  This  wrestling,  running,  contending, 
was  no  serious  affair ;  bespoke  no  obligation  of  defence,  no 
necessity  of  combat.  Serious  occupation  is  labour  that  has 
reference  to  some  want.  I  or  nature  must  succumb ;  if  the 
one  is  to  continue,  the  other  must  fall.  In  contrast  with  this 
kind  of  seriousness,  however,  sport  presents  the  higher  seri¬ 
ousness  :  for  in  it  nature  is  wrought  into  spirit,  and  although 
in  these  contests  the  subject  has  not  advanced  to  the  highest 
grade  of  serious  thought,  yet,  in  this  exercise  of  his  physical 
powers,  man  shows  his  freedom,  viz.  that  he  has  transformed 
his  body  to  an  organ  of  spirit.’  Nor  do  these  pertinent 
remarks  exhaust  the  significance  of  the  great  games  :  for 
they  were  always  accompanied  with  Temple  services  and 
were  j)leasing  to  the  gods.  They  thus  stood  out  as  the  great 
events  of  the  year,  which  symbolised  the  religious  as  well  as 
political  unity  of  the  Hellenic  races. 

The  statues  of  the  gods  were  themselves  Greek  men.  It 
is  a  grave  blunder  to  look  on  them  as  idols.  Idols  are  mere 
symbols,  and  often  hideous  symbols,  of  the  human  fears  and 
hopes  of  those  races  who  believe  that  they  live  in  a  hostile 
world.  The  Greek  gods  on  the  contrary  were  the  idealised 
and  artistic  expression  of  the  Greek  himself.  Apollo  and 
Hermes  as  well  as  the  demigod  heroes  Achilles  and  Theseus 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  215 


are  simply  glorified  Greeks.  ‘  The  benign  and  simple  lines 
of  the  countenance,  the  large  eyes,  the  short  forehead,  the 
straight  nose,  the  refined  mouth,  belonged  to  the  race  and 
were  their  natural  characteristics :  their  harmony  of  propor¬ 
tion  was  a  marked  feature  of  the  Greek  physique.  .  .  .  The 
physical,  however,  was  itself  only  an  expression  of  the 
spiritual.  The  innate  love  of  freedom  and  independence,  and 
the  living  consciousness  of  human  dignity  shone  forth  in  the 
erect  bearing  which  distinguished  the  Greek  from  the  bar¬ 
barian.’  (Curtius,  ‘  Griech.  Gesch.’  i.  25.) 

The  Greek  exaltation  of  courage,  their  love  of  country, 
their  intense  personality,  their  freedom  of  political  life,  pre¬ 
pared  them  for  a  great  world-task  which  it  fell  to  them  to 
perform  in  the  interests  of  civilisation  and  human  progress. 
Even  in  the  time  of  the  great  Cyrus  they  endeavoured  to 
throw  their  shield  over  their  brothers  on  the  Asiatic  coast. 
They  subsequently  drove  back  the  whole  Oriental  power  led 
against  them  by  Xerxes  in  person,  and  by  so  doing  laid  the 
whole  future  of  humanity  under  eternal  obligations.  Mara¬ 
thon,  Thermopylae,  and  Salamis  are  imperishable  names. 

‘  Thus  was  Greece  freed,’  says  Hegel,  ‘  from  the  pressure 
which  threatened  to  overwhelm  it.  Greater  battles  unques¬ 
tionably  have  been  fought,  but  these  live  immortal,  not  in 
the  historical  records  of  nations  only,  but  also  of  science  and 
art  —  of  the  noble  and  the  moral  generally.  For  these  are 
world-historical  victories  ;  they  were  the  salvation  of  culture 
and  spiritual  vigour,  and  they  rendered  the  Asiatic  principle 
powerless.  How  often,  on  other  occasions,  have  not  men 
sacrificed  everything  for  one  grand  object !  How  often  have 
not  warriors  fallen  for  duty  and  country  !  But  here  we  are 
called  on  to  admire,  not  only  valour,  genius,  and  spirit,  but 
the  purport  of  the  contest  —  the  effect,  the  result,  which  are 
unique  in  their  kind.  In  other  battles  a  particular  interest 
is  predominant;  but  the  immortal  fame  of  the  Greeks  is 
none  other  than  their  due,  in  consideration  of  the  noble 
cause  for  which  deliverance  was  achieved.  In  the  history  of 


216 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


the  world  it  is  not  the  valour  that  has  been  displayed,  nor 
the  so-called  merit  of  the  combatants,  hut  the  importance  of 
the  cause  itself,  that  must  decide  the  fame  of  the  achieve¬ 
ment.  In  the  case  before  us,  the  interest  of  the  world’s  his¬ 
tory  hung  trembling  in  the  balance.1  Oriental  despotism  — 
a  world  united  under  one  lord  and  sovereign  —  on  the  one 
side,  and  separate  states  —  insignificant  in  extent  and  re¬ 
sources,  but  animated  by  free  individuality  —  on  the  other 
side,  stood  front  to  front  in  array  of  battle.  Never  in  history 
has  the  superiority  of  spiritual  power  over  material  bulk  — 
and  that  of  no  contemptible  amount  —  been  made  so  glori¬ 
ously  manifest.  This  war  and  the  subsequent  development 
of  the  states  which  took  the  lead  in  it,  is  the  most  brilliant 
period  of  Greece.  Everything  which  the  Greek  principle  in¬ 
volved  then  reached  its  perfect  bloom  and  came  into  the 
light  of  day.’  (Hegel,  ‘The  Greek  World,’  p.  268.)  It  may 
be  added  that  the  contest  was  also  one  between  the  spirit  of 
centralisation  and  that  of  decentralisation. 

When  we  first  come  in  contact  with  the  Hellenic  race  in 
history,  we  at  once  recognise  the  loftiest,  and  deepest,  and 
richest  expression  of  the  genuine  Aryan  spirit.  A  strong 
and  joyous  personality,  and  its  free  and  beautiful  develop¬ 
ment,  meet  us.  We  are  not  surprised  to  read  Aristotle’s 
words  in  which,  speaking  for  all  Greece,  he  tells  us  that 
the  aim  of  life  is  ‘  living  happily  and  beautifully.’  (‘  Pol.’ 
iii.  9.  14.)  They  believed  in  the  essential  beneficence  of 
Nature  and  thought  life  well  worth  living.  Adamantius, 
the  physician,  says,  ‘  they  were  the  most  beautiful  eyed  of 
all  races,’  and  we  can  well  believe  it.  Above  all  other 
races  before  or  since  they  seem  to  have  lived.  It  was  their 
intense  sense  of  life  and  the  joy  in  life  that  lay  at  the 
bottom  of  their  ‘  zeal  for  activity,’  as  the  German  historian 
Curtius  well  says.  Humanity,  in  short,  in  all  its  breadth 
and  variety,  was  represented  in  this  wonderful  race,  free 
from  the  overshadowing  idea  of  God  as  eternal  law  and 

1  So  with  the  battle  of  Chalons,  when  Aetius  drove  back  the  Huns  in 
455  a.d. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  217 


stern  judge,  as  a  being  of  exacting  claims  if  not  of  hostile 
intent. 

But,  let  us  now  for  a  moment  try  to  get  rid  of  the 
Hellenic  glamour  and  contemplate  the  other  side  of  the 
picture. 

I  think  we  must  admit  that  the  Greeks,  and  above  all 
the  Athenian  Greeks,  were  light-minded  and  frivolous,  easily 
s waved  hither  and  thither,  vain,  of  a  shallow,  because  merely 
aesthetic,  morality ;  talkative,  untruthful,  scheming,  and 
pleasure-loving,  with  a  strong  tendency  to  licentiousness. 
Brilliant  comrades,  I  should  say  they  were  doubtful  friends. 

Again,  if  we  set  aside  the  philosophers  and  dramatists 
who  represented  the  highest  religious  thought  of  the  Greeks, 
it  can  scarcely  be  said  that  the  Greeks  as  a  race  were,  in 
any  sense  in  which  we  now  use  the  term,  a  religious  people. 
The  tales  of  the  gods  which  Plato  would  have  banished 
from  education  were  unquestionably  an  expression  of  the 
riotous  and  imaginative  spirit  of  the  Greeks,  and  could  not 
possibly  have  influenced  their  lives  to  virtue.  That  religion 
consisted  in  a  personal  ethical  relation  to  God  and  gods  was 
certainly  recognised  by  them  but  did  not  very  profoundly 
influence  them,  although  all  were  so  far  restrained  by  the 
fact  that  Zeus  punished  iniquity.  The  gods  generally  had 
to  be  honoured  and  offerings  made  to  them ;  but  that  was 
substantially  all.  Wanting  in  a  deep  religious  sense  and 
not  distinguished  by  any  high  conception  of  abstract  duty, 
they  were  consequently  deficient  in  reverence.  Nor  were 
they  capable  of  that  feeling  of  obligation  to  supreme  law 
which  marked  the  Roman.  Their  true  religion  was  Art : 
the  becoming,  the  fit,  and  the  beautiful  were  truly  their 
gods.  The  Greek  conception  in  truth  fell  far  short  of  the 
Judaic  and  Zoroastrian  and  Hindu  conceptions  of  a  Supreme 
Being  and  man’s  relations  to  him.  The  moral  force  which 
sustained  the  inner  life  of  the  Greek  was  his  idealising 
tendency  which  found  expression  in  art.  This  was  quite 
compatible  with  their  acceptance  of  the  popular  stories  about 
those  whom  they  idealised. 


218 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Further,  the  position  of  Athenian  women  was  far  from 
being  what  we  should  have  expected  to  grow  out  of  the  well- 
known  scene  between  Hector  and  Andromache,  and  many 
domestic  incidents  in  the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey.  It  fell 
short  of  the  Doric  conception,  and  seems  utterly  incompatible 
with  the  women  of  the  great  dramatists.  The  women  spent 
their  time  in  looking  after  their  domestic  concerns  and  sat  in 
a  room  set  apart  for  them  —  the  gynseceum  —  which  was  half 
boudoir,  half  a  day-nursery.  They  sewed,  wove,  and  em¬ 
broidered.  There  is  something  Oriental  in  the  conception  of 
the  wife’s  position  among  the  Ionic  Greeks.  The  chief  glory 
of  an  Athenian  woman  was  that  she  should  not  be  talked 
about.  The  husbands  regarded  their  wives  as  quite  inferior 
creatures,  fit  only  to  look  after  the  house  and  bear  children. 
They  themselves  spent  their  time  in  the  streets,  gymnasia, 
and  places  of  public  resort,  or  in  banquetings  at  each  other’s 
houses,  or  visiting  purchasable  women  (who  seem  to  have 
been  numerous  in  all  Greek  towns  except  Sparta),  and  some 
of  whom,  like  Aspasia,  were  women  of  high  accomplishments 
and  held  ‘  salons,’  frequented  by  all  the  literary,  artistic,  and 
political  men  who  could  secure  invitations.1  The  position  of 
women  in  Sparta  was  much  higher,  and  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  the  Greek  poetesses  were  for  the  most  part  of  the 
Doric  stem. 

Finally,  democratic  equality,  notwithstanding  the  over¬ 
shadowing  influence  of  the  Areopagus  (powerful  as  a  restrain¬ 
ing  influence  even  after  the  democratic  reforms  of  that  council 
by  Pericles),  and  the  presence  of  powerful  hereditary  families 
who  endeavoured  to  lead  the  mass,  led  to  quarrelsomeness 
and  jobbery  within  their  own  cities  and  constant  little  wars 
with  their  fellow  Greeks.  They  could  not  sacrifice  their 
narrow  civic  interests  even  to  the  idea  of  Hellenic  nationality, 
except  for  brief  and  uncertain  periods.  Delphi  and  the 
Olympic  games  were  their  only  living  points  of  unity  —  the 
former  religious,  the  latter  gymnastic.  Their  town  and  tribal 

1  They  were  always  foreigners  or  freed  women,  never  daughters  of  citizens, 
it  is  said. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  219 


confederacies  were  loose  associations  held  together  by  the 
worship  of  a  common  tutelary  deity,  Demeter,  Apollo,  or 
Poseidon. 

It  would  almost  seem  as  if  Lycurgus  saw  the  kind  of 
creatures  he  had  to  deal  with,  and  resolved  to  discipline  them 
tightly  and  to  subject  them  at  Sparta  to  a  civic  system  which 
was  at  once  school  and  camp,  and  thus  to  mould,  out  of  the 
facile  Greek  nature,  the  stern  and  upright  Spartan.  And  for 
a  time  he  succeeded,  but  it  was  a  moulding  from  without, 
not  from  within. 

Let  us  not  forget,  however,  that  it  was  these  very  Hellenic 
characteristics,  and  above  all  the  personal  freedom  in  which 
they  had  their  roots,  which  made  it  possible  for  the  Greeks 
to  be  artists,  historians,  and  bold,  speculative  inquirers  into 
all  things  human  and  divine.  It  was  probably  only  char¬ 
acter  of  the  versatile  Greek  type,  and  under  Greek  conditions, 
that  was  compatible  with  the  work  they  did  for  humanity. 
They  had  all  the  faults  of  the  artistic  temperament,  but  then 
they  had  the  latter  with  its  virtues  and  vitality  in  all  its  ful¬ 
ness.  They  had  to  pay  the  price  of  their  defects  that  they 
might  gain  Art  and  Philosophy  for  themselves  and  mankind. 
They  were  gifted  with  a  genius  for  perception  and  expression, 
and  this  in  every  kind  of  human  emotion  and  every  depart¬ 
ment  of  intellectual  activity,  and  whatever  they  attempted 
they  succeeded  in  doing  in  the  best  possible  form.  To  them 
we  owe  our  logic  and  philosophy,  the  beginnings  of  science, 
the  advancement  of  mathematics,  and  the  finest  forms  of 
history,  poetry,  and  the  drama,  as  well  as  the  arts  of  sculpture, 
architecture,  and  painting.  It  is  when  contemplating  the 
vast  and  various  contributions  which  the  Hellenes  made  to 
the  life  of  humanity  that  Shelley  beautifully  says  : 

Within  the  circuit  of  this  pendant  orb 
There  lies  an  antique  region,  on  which  fell 
The  dews  of  thought,  in  the  world’s  golden  dawn, 
Earliest  and  most  benign ;  and  from  it  sprung 
Temples  and  cities  and  immortal  forms, 

And  harmonies  of  wisdom  and  of  sonr* 


220 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


And  thoughts,  and  deeds  worthy  of  thoughts  so  fair : 
And  when  the  sun  of  its  dominion  failed, 

And  when  the  winter  of  its  glory  came, 

The  winds  that  stript  it  bare  blew  on  and  swept 
That  dew  into  the  utmost  wildernesses, 

In  wandering  clouds  of  sunny  rain  that  thawed 
The  unmaternal  bosom  of  the  North. 

From  the  Prologue  to  Hellas. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  GREEK  IDEAL  OF  MANHOOD  AND  THE  CONSEQUENT 

CHARACTERISTICS  OF  HELLENIC  EDUCATION  GENERALLY 

As  a  necessary  introduction  to  the  understanding  of  the 
Hellenic  ideal  let  me  point  out  what  is  little  more  than  a 
logical  deduction  from  what  we  have  already  said.  The 
genuine  Greek  did  not  make  any  real  distinction  between  a 
virtuous  life  and  a  beautiful  and  happy  one.  Virtue  doubt¬ 
less  was  the  condition  of  happiness  ;  but  virtue  itself  meant 
a  nature  in  harmony  with  itself  and  its  external  relations. 
It  was  essentially  aesthetic.  Thus  we  may  truly  say  that 
it  was  not  the  abstract  good  of  Plato  which  governed  the 
ethical  conceptions  of  the  Greeks,  hut  the  beautiful  as 
another  expression  for  harmony.  Hence  the  compound 
word  halohagathia.  But  inasmuch  as  the  Greek  mind  was 
essentially  concrete,  it  included  in  the  idea  of  human 
excellence  the  outer  aspect  and  bearing  of  the  individual 
man. 

The  oldest  form  of  Greek  life  was  the  Dorian.  (We  may 
here  omit  the  iEolic.)  The  chief  representatives  of  the  Doric 
tribes  were  the  Cretans  and  Spartans,  and  consequently  we 
are  justified  in  looking  among  them  for  the  primitive  laws, 
customs,  and  beliefs  of  the  Hellenic  race.  If  the  Dorians 
were  the  first  to  form  civic  communities,  we  can  easily 
understand  that  whatever  their  national  temperament  and 
unconscious  life-aims  might  be,  these  would  be  subordinated 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  221 


to  the  necessity  of  maintaining  the  existence  of  their  rising 
communities  in  the  midst  of  hostile  races.  Hence  the  pure 
Hellenic  spirit  would  be  subordinated  in  them  to  military 
requirements. 

In  the  education  of  the  Dorians  it  is  Sparta  with  which 
we  have  chiefly  to  do.  Unlovely  as  at  first  sight  the  Spartan 
character  and  constitution  seem,  we  must  never  forget  that 
the  Spartans  were  yet  Hellenes,  and  that  the  Greek  spirit, 
which  reached  its  finest  expression  in  Athens,  animated  them 
also  —  only  subdued  in  their  case  by  a  sterner  sense  of  duty, 
by  an  arbitrary  state-supremacy  over  the  individual  citizen, 
and  a  conservative  attachment  to  the  older  and  simpler  con¬ 
ceptions  of  the  Hellenic  race.  They  were  of  the  past,  and 
in  their  political  system  it  is  doubtful  if  they  possessed  the 
possibility  of  progressive  development.  Among  them  we 
find  supreme  attachment  to  the  state,  as  the  central  motive 
force  in  the  individual  life,  much  more  strongly  expressed 
than  among  the  Athenians ;  but  it  is  still  held  by  them  in 
union  with  a  deep  sense  of  personal  freedom  —  achieved 
through  the  state  and  (so  to  speak)  contra  mundum.  For 
the  fundamental  characteristics  of  the  Hellenic  mind  were 
not  here  wanting.  ‘  In  the  genuine  Doric  form  of  govern¬ 
ment/  says  Muller  (‘Dorians/  ii.  p.  6), ‘there  were  certain 
predominant  ideas,  which  were  peculiar  to  that  race,  and 
were  also  expressed  in  the  worship  of  Apollo,  viz.  those  of 
becomingness  or  graceful  expression  ( euJcosmia ) ;  of  self- 
control  and  moderation  ( sophrosyne ) ;  and  of  manly  virtue 
(arete).  Accordingly,  the  constitution  was  formed  for  the 
education  as  well  of  the  old  as  of  the  young ;  and  in  a  Doric 
state,  education  was,  upon  the  whole,  a  subject  of  greater 
importance  than  government.  And  for  this  reason  all 
attempts  to  explain  the  legislation  of  Lycurgus  from  partial 
views  and  considerations  have  necessarily  failed.  That 
external  happiness  and  enjoyment  were  not  the  aim  of  these 
institutions  was  soon  perceived/  Again  he  says  (ii.  3.  1): 
‘We  may  say  that  the  Doric  state  was  a  body  of  men, 
acknowledging  one  strict  principle  of  order  and  one  unalter- 


222 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


able  rule  of  manners  ;  and  so  subjecting  themselves  to  this 
system  that  scarcely  anything  was  unfettered  by  it;  but 
every  action  was  influenced  and  regulated  by  the  recognised 
principles.’  But  in  carrying  out  his  scheme  of  discipline 
Lycurgus  was  not,  Plutarch  says,  ‘  himself  unduly  austere ; 
it  was  he  who  dedicated,  says  Sosibius,  the  little  statue  of 
Laughter  or  Mirth,  which  was  introduced  occasionally  at 
their  suppers  and  places  of  common  entertainment,  to  serve 
as  a  sort  of  sweetmeat  to  accompany  their  strict  and  hard 
life.’1  The  ultimate  aim  of  the  state-regulations,  however, 
was  such  as  we  have  quoted  from  Muller,  and  had  a  con¬ 
scious  ideal  of  personal  as  well  as  civic  manhood  in  view. 
Muller  maintains  that  up  to  the  time  of  the  Persian  Wars 
(let  us  say  even  up  to  450  b.c.)  all  mental  excellence  flour¬ 
ished  at  Sparta,  and  it  lias  to  be  remembered  that  it  was  to 
the  Dorian  branch  of  the  Hellenic  race  that  we  owe  some  of 
the  lyrical  poets. 

We  must  recognise  the  Cretan  and  Spartan  education  as 
the  oldest  to  take  shape  among  the  Hellenic  races,  and  we 
would,  accordingly,  fain  find  among  them  the  ideas  which  lay 
at  the  root  of  all  Hellenic  life.  I  think  we  do  find  them  as 
summed  up  in  the  three  expressions  I  have  already  quoted 
from  Muller,  arete ,  sophrosyne,  and  eukosmia.  Indeed,  I  seem 
to  see  in  these  the  basis  of  all  Greek  life  whatsoever,  even  in 
its  finest  forms ;  and,  as  the  basis  of  their  life,  they  must 
also  have  been,  more  or  less  consciously,  the  aim  of  their 
education.  The  Athenian  to  /caXov  KayaOov  simply  summed 
up  these  characteristics  in  different  words.  This  was  the 
Greek  ideal  of  conduct.  But  all  was  subservient  to  the  state, 
and  the  Hellenic  ideal  of  man,  both  as  body  and  mind,  was 
thus  inseparable  from  his  state-ideal. 

The  Greek  child,  speaking  generally,  was  brought  up  for 
the  service  of  the  state.  The  individual  existed  for  the  state. 
The  civic  idea  was  dominant,  just  as  in  China  the  family  idea 
was  and  is  dominant,  and  in  India  the  caste  idea,  in  Egypt 

1  Life,  of  Lycurgus. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  223 


the  class  idea,  among  the  Jews  the  theological  idea,  and 
among  the  Persians  the  virile  military  idea.  But  we  must  re¬ 
member  that,  whatever  might  be  the  local  form  of  government 
the  numerous  separate  states  of  Greece  were  free ;  and  that 
if  there  was,  among  the  Dorians,  an  apparently  arbitrary 
moulding  of  the  mind  of  youth,  what  was  done  was  done 
by  the  citizens  themselves,  in  a  free  Greek  spirit.  In  Sparta, 
such  was  the  instinctive  capacity  of  the  race  for  the 
ideal,  that  the  conditions  of  qualification  for  citizenship 
were  necessarily  good,  inasmuch  as  they  were  determined 
by  the  ideal.  Even  the  importance  of  bodily  training 
was  recognised  with  a  view  to  a  true  manly  product  apart 
from  the  relation  of  gymnastics  to  the  national  defence, 
although  this  latter  object  was  necessarily  more  pronounced 
among  the  Dorian  than  among  the  Ionic  races.  But  even 
among  the  Dorians  we  must  not  concentrate  our  attention 
so  exclusively  on  the  gymnastic  side  of  their  training  as  to 
lose  sight  of  its  moral  element.  The  aim  of  the  severe  dis¬ 
cipline  under  which  they  were  brought  up  was  to  produce 
obedience,  self-sacrifice,  courage,  promptitude,  self-reliance, 
and  a  single-eyed  concentration  on  the  immediate  purpose  of 
all  action.1  Thus  was  produced  a  self-controlled  and  vic¬ 
torious  man.  Accordingly,  I  conclude  that  while  the  de¬ 
fensive  requirements  of  the  state  among  the  Doric  races 
dominated  and  controlled  the  processes  of  education ;  yet 
the  requirements  of  the  state,  inasmuch  as  they  could  only 
he  satisfied  by  the  rearing  of  citizens  who  were  virtuous,  self- 
controlled,  and  possessed  of  the  graces  of  manner  and  physi¬ 
cally  well-grown,  were  also  the  highest  possible  even  in  the 
interests  of  each  man.  Thus,  free  development  of  the  indi¬ 
vidual  and  the  service  of  the  state  were  within  certain  limits 
harmonised. 

Among  the  Athenians  also,  and,  in  truth,  in  all  Hellenic 
communities,  the  citizens  lived  for  the  state  which  was 
supreme ;  but  it  is  necessary  here  to  emphasise  a  distinc¬ 
tion  between  the  races. 

1  This  reads  like  a  quotation. 


224 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Among  the  Doric  races,  and  notably  in  Sparta,  the  state 
existed  as  a  great  educational  institution,  and  citizens  were 
deliberately  formed  after  a  certain  pattern.  Among  the 
Ionic  races,  and  especially  the  Attic  branch,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  education  was  not  state-education  in  any  proper 
sense :  there  was  no  state-system,  and  the  idea  and  aims  of 
the  state  consequently  did  not  rigidly  control  the  education 
given.  The  individual  was  educated  in  the  first  instance  for 
himself  —  with  a  view  to  his  own  full  and  free  development 
—  and  only  secondarily  for  the  state.  The  best  possible 
product  in  manhood  is  better  than  a  second-rate  manufac¬ 
tured  citizen,  even  from  the  point  of  view  of  public  policy. 
In  short,  a  development  of  body  and  mind,  so  that  the  one 
should  serve  the  other,  and  both  work  in  subjection  to  the 
ideas  of  ‘  self-control,  moral  excellence,  and  the  becoming/ 
and  thus  give  to  the  state  a  harmonious  man,  was  the  Attic 
idea  of  education.  The  Dorian  thought,  on  the  contrary, 
first  of  the  state  in  its  integrity,  and  only  in  the  second 
place  of  the  man.  But,  as  I  have  pointed  out,  his  require¬ 
ments  for  the  man  were  conceived  in  a  true  Hellenic  spirit. 

It  would  appear,  then,  that  it  is  among  the  Hellenic 
races,  above  all  in  Attica,  that  we  find  arising,  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  world,  a  wholly  new  conception 
of  human  life,  and,  consequently,  a  new  conception  of  the 
end  of  education.  The  Chinese  was  trained  in  obedience  to 
precepts  and  customs  with  a  view  to  civic  order  and  the 
more  common  social  and  prudential  virtues ;  the  Persian 
was  trained  to  be  truthful,  generous,  and  brave  for  himself 
as  well  as  for  the  state,  and  with  these  virtues  there  was 
a  spirit  of  free  individualism,  but  it  was  boyish  and  un¬ 
thoughtful  :  other  races  of  antiquity  were  held  down  by 
despotic  tradition  and  overawed  by  the.  dogmatism  of  a 
(presumably)  divine  teaching ;  the  Ionian  Greek,  however, 
formed  a  conception  of  the  ideal  for  each  man,  which 
ideal  was  to  be  freely  sought  —  an  ideal  much  higher  than 
any  that  had  preceded  it,  because  it  aimed  at  manly  dignity 
and  harmony  of  the  whole  nature  —  mind  and  body.  All 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  225 


authority  of  the  state  proceeded  from  the  individual  citizen 
in  his  free  development  and  activity.  The  very  laws  were 
a  counterpart  of  the  life. 

Another  distinction  between  the  Dorian  and  Attic  is 
worthy  of  mention.  The  laws  of  Lycurgus  imposed  the 
education  of  the  free  citizen  as  a  duty  on  the  state,  just  as 
the  laws  of  Solon  at  Athens  imposed  it  as  a  duty  on  each 
father  of  a  family.  The  difference  is  significant. 

The  Hellenic  races  generally,  both  Dorian  and  Ionian, 
endeavoured  to  realise  their  ideal  by  means  of  two  educa¬ 
tional  instruments  —  music  and  gymnastic.  Under  the 
head  of  music  was  included  literature  as  well  as  music  in 
its  narrower  sense;  and  I  would  further  point  out  that 
music,  even  in  its  narrower  sense,  embraced  (among  the 
Dorians  especially)  religious  training,  because  of  its  con¬ 
nection  with  choral  singing  and  the  worship  of  the  gods. 

Such  being  the  general  character  and  aim  of  Greek  life 
and  Greek  education,  let  us  now  consider  in  detail  the 
means  that  were  taken  to  train  the  youth  of  the  country, 
beginning  with  the  oldest  Greek  system  —  the  Doric,  as 
exemplified  in  Crete  and  Sparta  —  a  system  towards  which 
both  Xenophon  and  Plato,  weary  of  licentious  democracies, 
were  disposed  to  look  back  with  some  longing.  And  yet, 
spite  of  Plato  and  Xenophon,  it  is  in  the  Ionic- Attic  life 
and  education  that  the  modern  world  must  ever  recognise 
the  true  Hellenic  spirit. 

But  before  going  further,  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  bear  in 
mind  that  national  education  did  not  mean  in  any  part  of 
Hellas  what  it  means  in  Europe  now.  Those  who  were  free 
citizens  or  burgesses  were  alone  regarded  as  forming  integral 
parts  of  the  state,  the  larger  number  of  the  inhabitants  — 
composed  of  foreign  residents  and  slaves  —  being  excluded. 
In  Sparta,  for  example,  at  its  best  period,  the  subject  resi¬ 
dents,  including  the  Helots,  were  three  times  as  numerous  as 
the  true  citizens.  In  Attica,  again,  the  total  population  was 
about  500,000,  and  of  these  only  100,000  were  citizens.  It 

15 


226 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


has  also  to  be  premised  that  the  education  which  was  given, 
both  at  Sparta  and  Athens,  was  the  instinctive  product  of  the 
life  of  the  people,  not  the  deliberate  result  of  educational 
discussion  and  theory. 

To  fix  the  date  of  the  first  schools  in  Greece  is  difficult, 
but  we  do  not  go  too  far  back  when  we  fix  it  at  600  b.c.  in 
Athens.  This  was  a  period  of  intense  Hellenic  activity. 
According  to  Plutarch,  almost  every  free  citizen  received  at 
least  elementary  instruction  so  early  as  the  time  of  Aristides, 
who  died  467  b.c.  The  Spartan  education,  if  organised  along 
with  the  Spartan  state,  must  have  dated  from  about  850  b.c. 

I  would,  however,  here  emphasise  what  I  have  already 
frequently  indicated  —  that  we  must  not  measure  the  educa¬ 
tion  of  a  nation  by  its  schools.  These  arise  only  where  there 
is  a  written  literature.  But  long  before  their  existence,  oral 
literature,  religious  and  heroic,  not  to  speak  of  customs  and 
laws,  were  educating  the  people.  And  again,  I  would  point 
out  that  we  are  not  to  conclude  from  the  non-existence  of 
schools  that  children  were  not,  in  a  considerable  number  of 
cases  at  least,  taught  to  read  and  write  in  their  own  homes 
in  so  far  as  these  arts  were  necessary  for  the  conduct  of  the 
ordinary  business  of  life. 


CHAPTER  III 

EDUCATION  AMONG  THE  DORIAN  GREEKS 
I.  CRETAN  EDUCATION 

The  manly  vigour  of  the  Dorian,  his  simplicity  and  natural¬ 
ness,  were  reproduced  in  the  education  to  which  he  subjected 
the  young.  The  Hellenic  idea  of  the  supremacy  of  the  state 
was  recognised  more  fully  than  among  the  Ionians,  who  (as 
pre-eminently  in  Athens)  allowed  more  individual  freedom, 
and  were  characterised  by  more  variety,  flexibility,  and 
subtlety  of  nature  —  elements  necessary  to  bring  to  fruition 
the  artistic  genius  of  the  Hellenic  mind.  With  the  Dorians 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  227 

the  state  was  the  schoolmaster :  the  state  itself  was,  in  truth, 
an  organised  educational  polity. 

In  Crete  the  boys  were  retained  in  the  family  till  their 
eighteenth  year.  At  this  age  they  were  required  to  enter 
themselves  (some  say  these  associations  were  voluntary) 
as  members  of  hands  or  troops  to  be  trained  in  a  severe 
course  of  gymnastic  including  archery,  hunting,  and  mili¬ 
tary  exercises.  At  this  age  also  they  were  admitted  to  the 
public  meals  and  allowed  to  listen  to  the  conversation  of  the 
grown  men. 

These  bands,  each  with  its  own  head,  were  under  the 
general  superintendence  of  an  overseer  appointed  by  the 
state.  There  was  no  gymnastic  ‘  specialist  *  employed  as 
teacher  —  at  least  in  the  earlier  times.  Their  literary 
education,  so  far  as  reading,  writing,  &c.,  were  concerned 
received  little  or  no  attention.  But  in  connection  with  the 
Doric  music,  which  all  learnt,  they  became  thoroughly 
versed  in  the  laws.  These  they  chanted.  They  also  sang 
hymns  to  the  gods,  and  recited  tales  of  heroes,  and  narra¬ 
tives  of  the  great  achievements  of  their  ancestors.  Their 
literary  education  thus  really  comprised  music,  religion,  civic 
economy,  history,  and  poetry  in  their  rudimentary  forms. 

As  to  the  JEolic  stem  of  the  Hellenic  race,  I  may  say  in 
passing  that  it  was  more  nearly  allied  in  its  educational 
practices  to  the  Doric  than  to  the  Ionic-Attic.  Thebes  in 
Boeotia  was  the  representative  town  of  this  Hellenic  branch. 
In  music,  both  the  lyre  and  the  flute  were  taught  at  Thebes, 
and  the  influence  of  Athens  was  so  far  felt  that  literary 
schools  existed  there  before  the  time  of  Socrates.  The 
slaughtering  of  the  children  of  the  school  of  Mycalessus  by  a 
band  of  Thracians  is  narrated  by  Thucydides  (vii.  49). 
Plutarch  also  tells  us  that  Epaminondas,  the  great  Theban, 
occupied  himself  with  philosophic  studies,  and  it  is  well- 
known  that  rhetoricians  and  philosophers  taught  at  Thebes 
when  Philip  of  Macedon  was  a  boy.1 

1  The  various  colonies  of  the  different  Hellenic  races  in  Asia  Minor  and 
throughout  the  Mediterranean  followed  each  the  customs  of  their  mother  city. 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


228 


SPARTAN  EDUCATION 

The  Cretan  principles  of  education  received  their  full  de¬ 
velopment  in  Sparta.  ‘  This  is  one  point/  says  Aristotle,  ‘  in 
which  the  Lacedaemonians  deserve  praise :  they  devote  a 
great  deal  of  attention  to  the  educational  needs  of  their  chil¬ 
dren,  and  their  attention  takes  the  form  of  action  on  the  part 
of  the  state/  (‘  Polit.’  v.  1.) 

The  position  of  Sparta  in  the  centre  of  a  hostile  population 
compelled  its  statesmen  to  give  prominence  to  the  gymnastic 
and  military  side  of  education.  The  state  had  to  hold  its 
own,  and  it  could  only  do  so  through  the  vigour  and  prowess 
of  its  individual  citizens.  Sparta,  accordingly,  was  little 
more  than  an  organised  camp.1  We  are  not  to  suppose  that 
Lycurgus  invented  the  Spartan  civic  system.  He  gave  form 
and  definite  purpose  to  those  traditionary  Doric  customs  and 
tendencies  which  we  find  partially  operative  in  Crete.  Nor, 
according  to  Plutarch  (i.  125),  was  it  his  intention  to  rear  a 
conquering  race.  ‘  He  thought  rather  that  the  happiness  of 
a  state,  as  of  a  private  citizen,  consisted  chiefly  in  the  exer¬ 
cise  of  virtue  and  in  the  concord  of  the  inhabitants.  His  aim 
in  all  his  arrangements  was  to  make  and  keep  the  people 
free-minded,  self-dependent,  and  temperate.’  The  state  rested 

1  The  Dorians  effected  a  settlement  in  the  Peloponnesus  in  the  eleventh 
century  b.c.  Sparta  was,  before  the  time  of  Lycurgus,  a  double  monarchy. 
Lycurgus  about  850  b.c.  still  further  weakened  the  monarchical  authority,  so 
that  the  two  kings  became  little  more  than  presidents  of  the  senate.  The 
senate  consisted  of  thirty  members,  including  the  kings.  The  free  inhabitants 
of  Sparta  alone  had  political  rights.  With  few  exceptions,  they  were  owners 
of  the  soil  and  lived  on  their  rents.  The  Periceci—  inhabitants  of  the  sur¬ 
rounding  country  and  towns  |  were  free,  but  had  no  political  rights.  They 
were  engaged  in  actual  farming  and  in  various  industries  and  commerce.  The 
Helots,  again,  were  in  the  position  of  slaves  or  rather  serfs,  and  were  com¬ 
posed  of  captives  taken  in  war,  or  rebels  who  had  submitted.  They  did 
menial  work  in  Sparta  and  cultivated  the  lands  of  the  free  citizens,  paying  a 
fixed  rent  of  one-half  the  produce.  Sparta  was  regarded  as  a  leading  power  in 
Greece  from  555  b.c.  In  b.c.  510  it  began  to  interfere  north  of  the  Pelopon- 
nese  and  as  the  supporter  of  the  oligarchy  to  incur  the  hatred  of  Attica.  The 
Peloponnesian  War  was  waged,  b.c.  431-404,  resulting  in  the  triumph  of 
Sparta  and  of  oligarchic  versus  democratic  principles.  Macedonian  domina¬ 
tion  of  Greece  dates  from  335  b.c. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  229 


on  the  idea  that  each  citizen  must  be  prepared  to  sacrifice 
himself  to  the  whole. 


1.  Infancy 

The  governing  conception  in  education  was  the  production 
of  a  hardy  spirit  in  a  hardy  body.  To  ensure  this,  the  dis¬ 
cipline  began  from  the  day  of  birth.  The  babe  was  bathed 
in  water  mixed  with  wine,  because  (it  is  said)  the  Spartans 
believed  that  only  strong  and  healthy  children  could  endure 
such  a  bath,  and  that  the  sickly  must  die  of  it.  After  this, 
the  council  of  the  elders  of  the  tribe  Qgerousia')  decided  in 
the  public  place  of  meeting  as  to  whether  the  child  should 
die  or  live.  The  healthy  and  strong  boy  was  preserved,  but 
the  sickly  and  weak  one  was  ‘  put  away.’  It  used  to  be  held 
that  it  was  thrown  down  a  precipice  on  Mount  Taygetus ; 
but  the  custom  seems  rather  to  have  been  to  expose  it  in  a 
defile  of  Taygetus  or  some  outlying  district  round  Sparta  and 
allow  it  to  grow  up,  if  any  one  among  the  subject  population 
chose  to  save  it.  All  rights  of  citizenship  were  for  ever 
denied  to  it.  Healthy  children  alone  could  be  of  service  to 
the  state. 

Up  to  the  seventh  year  the  child  belonged  to  the  mother, 
by  whom  it  was  brought  up,  the  health  of  the  body  being 
her  chief  care.  In  early  times  the  Spartan  mother  nursed 
her  child  herself.  After  the  Persian  wars,  however  (b.c.  479), 
in  the  houses  of  rank,  we  hear  of  wet-nurses  and  nursery 
maids  (hired  women  of  the  class  of  the  Perioeci),  who  were 
noted  in  Sparta  for  special  carefulness  and  ability.  They 
were  on  that  account  much  prized  by  the  citizens  of  other 
Greek  states.  The  child  was  not  wrapped  in  swaddling-bands 
( sjpargana ).  The  Spartans  held  that  its  limbs  should  be  free, 
so  that  the  natural  growth  might  be  unimpeded.  It  was 
made  hardy  by  fasting,  and  trained  (it  is  said)  to  overcome 
fear  by  being  left  alone  in  the  dark.  Screaming  was  pre¬ 
vented  as  much  as  possible,  for  the  Spartan,  as  a  rule,  was 
not  allowed  to  cry  out.  The  discipline  of  self-control  thus 
began  very  early. 


230 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


2.  The  Education  of  the  Boys 

(a)  Gymnastic.  —  In  their  seventh  year  the  legitimate  sons 
of  citizens  were  entrusted  by  the  ephors  to  a  state  official, 
who  was  responsible  for  their  upbringing.  He  was  called 
the  Fcedonomus.  The  cost  of  education  for  all  free  citizens 
was  defrayed  from  the  revenues  of  the  public  lands  and  from 
the  taxes  of  the  Perioeci.  The  object  of  this  public  educa¬ 
tion  was  to  promote  a  feeling  of  equality  among  citizens  of 
all  ranks,  and  to  implant  in  the  youth  of  the  state  the  feeling 
of  a  common  interest.  The  Spartan  youth,  accordingly,  were 
brought  up  in  school-rooms,  dormitories,  gymnasia,  and 
music-rooms,  shared  by  all.  The  heirs-apparent  of  the  kings 
were  alone  exempted.  No  Spartan  was  allowed  to  be  edu¬ 
cated  in  a  foreign  state.  The  pcedonomus  wTas  assisted  by 
officers  called  bidicei. 

When  received  into  the  public  boarding  schools,  the  boys 
were  formed  into  small  companies  ( agelai  or  ilai)  and  these 
formed  portions  of  larger  companies,  called  bouai.  The 
older  and  abler  boys  were  set  over  the  younger  and  weaker 
ones  as  superintendents  and  leaders  in  their  gymnastic  exer¬ 
cises,  as  captains  of  the  ilai  and  bouai  (ilarchai  and  bouagores ). 
‘  The  governor/  says  Plutarch,  ‘  set  over  each  of  the  bands, 
for  their  captains,  the  most  temperate  and  boldest  of  those 
they  called  Irens  (youths)  who  were  usually  twenty  years 
old  —  two  years  out  of  the  boys’  (i.  107).  These  monitors 
and  captains  were  responsible  to  the  pcedonomus  alone. 

The  pcedonomus  (under  whom  were  the  bidicei),  who  was 
supreme,  punished  the  boys  on  the  spot  for  any  offence,  superin¬ 
tended  their  moral  training  and  their  gymnastic  exercises.  He 
also  regulated  the  stories  which  the  children  were  allowed  to 
hear.  ‘  Lycurgus/  says  Plutarch,  ‘  would  not  have  masters 
bought  out  of  the  market  for  his  young  Spartans,  nor  such 
as  should  sell  their  pains :  nor  was  it  lawful  for  the  father 
himself  to  breed  up  the  children  after  his  own  fancy ;  but  as 
soon  as  they  were  seven  years  old  they  were  to  be  enrolled 
in  certain  companies  and  classes,  where  they  all  lived  under 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  231 


the  same  order  and  discipline,  doing  their  exercises  and  taking 
their  play  together.  Of  these,  he  who  showed  the  most  con¬ 
duct  and  courage  was  made  captain ;  the  others  had  their  eyes 
always  upon  him  ;  obeyed  his  orders,  and  underwent  patiently 
whatsoever  punishment  he  inflicted  ;  so  that  the  whole  course 
of  their  education  was  one  continued  exercise  of  a  ready  and 
perfect  obedience.’ 1  (i.  106.) 

The  age  of  the  boys  regulated  the  classification  into  differ¬ 
ent  groups  and  classes.  Up  to  the  period  of  youth  there 
were  three  classes  to  be  gone  through,  from  the  seventh  to 
the  twelfth  year,  from  the  twelfth  to  the  fifteenth,  from  the 
fifteenth  to  the  eighteenth  ;  and  there  were  probably  as  many 
more  from  the  period  of  youth  to  that  of  full  manhood  —  in 
the  thirtieth  year. 

Immediately  on  his  entrance  the  boy’s  hair  was  cut  short. 
The  beds  consisted  of  hay  and  straw,  without  blankets ;  from 
the  fifteenth  year  of  rushes,  which  the  boys  were  required  to 
collect  for  themselves,  without  a  knife,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Eurotas.  In  summer  and  in  winter  they  went  without  shoes 
and  but  slightly  clad:  till  their  twelfth  year  in  petticoats 
(scanty  woollen  ones)  ;  after  that  age  they  had  only  one  gar¬ 
ment,  a  kind  of  plaid.  This  plaid  was  a  square  piece  of  cloth, 
which  was  laid  upon  the  left  shoulder,  passed  round  the  back, 
drawn  under  the  right  arm,  and  then  again  thrown  back  over 
the  left  shoulder. 

To  accustom  them  to  endure  hunger  in  war,  food  was  sup¬ 
plied  to  them  but  sparingly,  and  that  they  might  be  trained 
to  overreach  the  enemy  and  provide  their  own  food  when 
campaigning,  they  had  permission  to  steal  provisions,  but 
with  the  reservation  that  they  did  not  allow  themselves  to  be 
caught  in  the  act.  Whoever  caught  a  boy  stealing  was  re¬ 
quired  to  punish  him  or  to  inform  the  pcedonomus ,  who  then 
ordered  punishment  to  be  inflicted  by  the  whip-bearers 
( [mastigophori )  who  always  accompanied  him.  The  disgrace 
of  the  boy  lay  essentially  in  the  fact  that  he  had  shown  so 
little  cunning  and  foresight.  The  ignominy  of  being  dis- 

1  I  quote  always  from  Clough’s  Plutarch. 


232 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


covered  was  greater  than  that  of  the  blows,  for  blows  were 
looked  on  as  a  means  of  hardening  the  young  for  the  bearing 
of  pain.  Indeed,  the  boys  had  on  certain  great  occasions  to 
pass  what  might  be  called  ‘  whipping-examinations.’  On  the 
annual  festival  of  Artemis-Orthia  youths  were  whipped  to 
the  drawing  of  blood.  ‘Nor  must  one  be  offended/  says 
Solon  to  Anacharsis  in  Lucian,  ‘  when  you  see  their  young 
men  whipped  at  the  altar  and  streaming  with  blood,  whilst 
their  fathers  and  mothers  stand  by  entreating  them  to  suffer 
it  courageously  and  even  proceed  to  threats  if  they  do  not 
hear  it  with  patience  and  resolution.  Many  have  died  under 
this  discipline  rather  than  acknowledge  themselves  unequal 
to  it  before  their  friends  and  relations.  Statues  of  them  have 
frequently  been  erected  at  the  public  expense.’  The  custom 
is  referred  to  by  Pausanias,  and  Plutarch  in  his  Life  of 
Lycurgus  says  —  ‘  I  myself  have  seen  several  of  the  youths 
endure  whipping  to  death  at  the  foot  of  the  altar  of  Diana 
surnamed  Orthia’  (i.  109). 

Led  by  the  ilarchai  and  bouagores  the  boys  went  through 
the  gymnastic  curriculum  under  the  direction  of  the  pcedono- 
mus  and  his  subordinate  bidicei.  Gymnastic  exercises,  indeed, 
formed  the  chief  instrument  of  education  in  Sparta.  The 
Dorians  had  cherished  them  from  time  immemorial,  and 
Lycurgus,  who  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Olympic  games,  had  regulated  them  by  law.  It  was  an 
organised  and  graduated  gymnastic  system.  The  exercises 
were  meant  neither  to  form  athletes,  nor  to  promote  acrobatic 
dexterity,  or  beauty  of  form,  but  solely  to  develop  qualities 
serviceable  in  war.  They  were  performed  in  the  gymnasia 
(probably  in  the  morning  before  breakfast  and  in  the  after¬ 
noon  before  the  evening  meal),  and  generally  naked.  The 
exercises  consisted  principally  in  running,  leaping,  fighting, 
riding,  swimming,  throwing  the  discus,  and  (as  the  boys 
grew  older)  hunting. 

The  little  boys  began  with  running  and  leaping.  At  the 
same  time  they  practised  playing  at  ball  to  strengthen  the 
arms.  In  the  advanced  classes  the  principal  exercises  were 


TEE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  233 

military  evolutions ;  also  wrestling,  throwing  the  quoit,  and 
hurling  the  spear.  Some  say  that  the  pancratium  —  a  personal 
contest  in  which  any  means  might  be  taken  of  defeating  an 
opponent  —  was  discouraged,  because  it  might  disfigure  the 
face  and  cause  such  serious  injuries  of  other  kinds  as  to  unfit 
for  war.  But  there  can,  I  think,  be  no  doubt  that  it  existed 
and  was  encouraged.  Not  to  speak  of  other  authorities,  we 
find  it  referred  to  in  Plato’s  ‘  Laws,’  and  even  so  late  as 
Cicero  it  might  be  seen.  In  the  ‘  Tusc.  Disp.’  v.  27,  he  says : 
— ‘  Adolescentium  greges  Lacedsemone  vidimus  ipsi  incredi- 
bili  contentione  certantes  pugnis,  calcibus,  unguibus,  morsu 
denique,  quum  exanimarentur  priusquam  victos  se  fateren- 
tur.’  Pausanias  also  speaks  of  the  personal  contests  which 
were  carried  on  in  the  island  of  Platanistas.  He  tells  of  the 
eyes  being  torn  from  their  sockets  in  these  encounters. 

With  the  gymnastic  exercises  were  conjoined  exercises  in 
dancing.  The  chief  kinds  of  dance  in  use  in  Sparta  were 
war-dances.  When  the  hoys  had  learned  to  march  to  the 
time  of  the  cithara  and  wind  instruments,  instruction  in  the 
rudiments  of  the  war-dance  soon  followed.  This  Pyrrhic 
dance  (which  Thaletas  had  brought  from  Crete  to  Sparta), 
according  to  Plato,  represented  the  cautious  movements 
necessary  for  avoiding  blows  and  assaults  of  an  enemy,  as 
well  as  all  movements  suited  to  attack,  e.g.  springing  to  the 
side,  drawing  back,  bending  dowm  to  the  earth,  and  springing 
up  again.  The  Pyrrhic  was  also  danced  in  armour,  and  in 
companies,  in  which  case  the  movements  of  attack  and  de¬ 
fence  were  gone  through  in  whole  masses  to  the  rhythm  of 
the  music.  In  addition  to  war-dances  there  were  also  the 
choral  dances,  which  formed  part  of  divine  worship,  repre¬ 
senting  mythical  events  and  giving  expression  to  religious 
feelings.  The  Caryatic  dance  was  danced  annually  by  the 
maidens  in  honour  of  Diana,  and  the  Bibasis  by  hoys  and  girls 
together.  In  this  dance  they  sprang  into  the  air  and  struck 
themselves  behind  with  the  feet. 

We  must  never  forget,  however,  that  even  the  Spartan 
Greek  looked  with  contempt  on  athletic  training  for  its  own 


234 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


sake.  He  did  not,  as  has  been  already  remarked,  aim  at 
making  athletes.  Men  trained  simply  to  run,  and  others 
trained  only  to  box,  could  give  only  a  disproportionate 
development  to  the  human  frame.  The  Spartans,  it  is  said, 
had  no  separate  institutions  called  gymnasia ;  but  in  truth 
their  whole  system  was  gymnastic,  and  they  pursued  every 
kind  of  physical  exercise  which  could  give  activity  to  the 
body  and  power  of  endurance. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  tendency  of  the  excessive 
gymnastic  training  of  the  young  Spartans,  while  hardening, 
must  have  been  at  the  same  time  brutalising,  unless  power¬ 
fully  counteracted  by  intellectual  and  moral  influences,  which, 
as  we  shall  see,  it  was  not.  The  Spartan  was,  indeed,  always 
hard  and  cruel.  Aristotle  sums  up  this  whole  question  in 
his  ‘  Politics :  *  ‘At  the  present  day  the  states  which  enjoy 
the  highest  repute  for  care  in  the  education  of  children 
generally  produce  in  them  an  athletic  condition  whereby 
they  mar  their  bodily  presence  and  development ;  while  the 
Lacedaemonians,  although  they  avoided  this  mistake,  render 
them  brutal  by  the  exertions  required  of  them  in  the  belief 
that  this  is  the  best  means  to  produce  a  valorous  disposition. 
Yet,  as  we  have  several  times  remarked,  valour  is  neither  the 
only  virtue  nor  the  virtue  principally  to  be  kept  in  view  in 
the  superintendence  of  children ;  and  even  if  it  were,  the 
Lacedaemonians  are  not  successful  in  devising  the  means  to 
attain  it.  For  neither  in  the  animal  world  generally  nor 
among  uncivilised  nations  do  we  find  valour  associated  with 
the  most  savage  characters,  but  rather  with  such  as  are 
gentle,  like  the  lions.  There  are  many  uncivilised  nations 
who  think  very  little  of  slaying  and  eating  their  fellow- 
creatures,  e.g.  the  Achseans  and  Heniochans  on  the  shores  of 
the  Black  Sea,  and  other  nations  of  the  mainland  in  those 
'parts,  some  of  whom  are  as  savage  as  these,  and  others  more 
so ;  yet,  although  their  existence  is  one  of  piracy,  they  are 
absolutely  destitute  of  valour.  Hay,  if  we  look  at  the  case 
of  the  Lacedaemonians  themselves,  it  is  well  known  that, 
although  they  maintained  their  superiority  to  all  other 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  235 


peoples  so  long  as  they  alone  were  assiduous  in  the  careful 
endurance  of  laborious  exercises,  they  are  now  surpassed  by 
others  in  the  contests  both  of  the  wrestling-school  and  of 
actual  war.  The  fact  is  that  their  pre-eminence  was  due,  not 
to  their  disciplining  their  youth  in  this  severe  manner,  but 
solely  to  their  giving  them  a  course  of  training,  while 
other  nations  with  whom  they  had  to  contend  did  not.  Now 
it  is  right  that  we  should  base  our  judgment  not  upon  their 
achievements  in  the  past  but  at  the  present  day ;  for  at 
present  they  have  competitors  in  them  educational  system, 
whereas  in  past  times  they  had  none.  We  may  conclude, 
then,  that  it  is  not  the  brutal  element  in  men  but  the  ele¬ 
ment  of  nobleness  which  should  hold  the  first  place  —  for 
the  power  of  encountering  noble  perils  must  belong,  not  to  a 
wolf  nor  to  any  other  brute,  but  only  to  a  brave  man  —  and 
that  to  give  up  our  children  overmuch  to  bodily  exercises 
and  leave  them  uninstructed  in  the  true  essentials,  i.e.  in  the 
rudiments  of  education ,  is  in  effect  to  degrade  them  to  the 
level  of  mechanics  by  rendering  them  useless  in  a  states¬ 
man’s  hands  for  any  purpose  except  one,  and,  as  our  argu¬ 
ment  shows,  not  so  useful  as  other  people  even  for  this.’ 1 
(‘  The  Politics  of  Aristotle,’  Book  V.  page  229.) 

(b)  Intellectual  and  Moral  Education.  —  Intellectual, 
moral,  and  aesthetic  education  were  all  included  by  the 
Greeks  under  the  general  designation  music.  ‘  Gymnastic 
for  the  body,  music  for  the  mind,’  says  Plato.  This  term, 
however,  was  frequently  used  (I  think,  always  by  Aristotle) 
in  the  narrower  sense  in  which  it  is  now  employed.  Gram- 
mata  and  mousike  (in  its  narrower  acceptation)  together 
constituted  Mousike  in  its  larger  sense.  Now  the  training 
of  the  mind  was  in  Sparta,  as  we  might  expect,  essentially 
and  almost  exclusively  represented  by  the  instruction  in 
music  in  the  narrower  acceptation  of  the  word.  Music  was 
practised  in  order  by  its  means  to  rouse  the  mind  to  bravery 
and  patriotism.  But  it  was  always  married  to  words  — 
poems  celebrating  the  glory  of  the  gods,  and  also  the  deeds 

1  In  quoting  from  Aristotle  I  take  Welldon’s  translation. 


236 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


of  heroes.  It  is  generally  said  that  the  hoys  and  youths 
learned  to  play  the  cithara,  hut  I  cannot  reconcile  this  with 
Arist.  ‘  Polit.’  v.  5,  where  it  is  said  that  the  Spartans  took 
pleasure  in  music  and  could  judge  it,  but  did  not  themselves 
learn  it.  They  certainly  sang.  The  songs  were  chiefly 
choric  and  were  national,  rather  than  personal,  in  their  sen¬ 
timent.  It  was  the  custom,  according  to  Plutarch,  to  call  on 
the  hoys  to  sing  after  supper.  The  chants  that  were 
approved  by  the  ephors,  sung  in  the  manly  and  grave  Doric 
style,  were  meant  to  instil  into  the  hearts  of  the  young 
citizens  the  moral  elements  of  the  Spartan  life,  viz.  courage 
and  discipline,  a  noble  pride,  contempt  of  cowardly  and 
servile  ways,  the  seriousness  of  existence,  and  the  worthiness 
of  effort.  The  laws  of  Lycurgus  also,  which  Thaletas  had 
set  to  music,  were  committed  to  memory  and  chanted,  just 
as  the  Cretan  laws  were  chanted  in  Crete.  But  the  music 
had  ever  to  remain  grave  and  measured.  Plutarch  says : 
‘  Their  songs  had  a  life  and  spirit  in  them  that  inflamed  and 
possessed  men’s  minds  with  an  enthusiasm  and  ardour  for 
action ;  the  style  of  them  was  plain  and  without  affectation ; 
the  subject  always  serious  and  moral ;  most  usually  it  was  in 
praise  of  such  men  as  had  died  in  defence  of  the  country,  or 
in  derision  of  those  that  had  been  cowards :  the  former  they 
declared  happy  and  glorified ;  the  life  of  the  latter  they 
described  as  most  miserable  and  abject.  Indeed,  if  we  will 
take  the  pains  to  consider  their  compositions,  some  of  wdiich 
were  still  extant  in  our  days,  and  the  airs  on  the  flute  to 
which  they  marched  when  going  to  battle,  we  shall  find  that 
Terpander  and  Pindar  had  reason  to  say  that  music  and 
valour  were  allied.  The  former  says  of  Lacedaemon  : 

The  spear  and  song  in  her  do  meet 

And  Justice  walks  about  her  street ; 

and  Pindar : 

Councils  of  wise  elders  here, 

And  the  young  men’s  conquering  spear, 

And  dance,  and  song,  and  joy  appear  ; 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  237 


both  describing  the  Spartans  as  no  less  musical  than  war¬ 
like  ;  in  the  words  of  one  of  their  own  poets : 

With  the  iron  stern  and  sharp 

Conies  the  playing  of  the  harp. 

For,  indeed,  before  they  engaged  in  battle,  the  king  first 
sacrificed  to  the  Muses,  in  all  likelihood  to  put  them  in  mind 
of  the  manner  of  their  education  and  of  the  judgment  that 
would  be  passed  upon  their  actions,  and  thereby  to  animate 
them  to  the  performance  of  exploits  that  should  deserve  a 
record.’  (112  and  113.)  We  must  not  forget,  too,  that 
some  of  the  most  celebrated  lyric  poets  were  Spartans  or  at 
least  Dorians. 

The  music  of  the  Spartans  was,  however,  very  limited  in 
its  range.  It  is  said  that  when  the  musician  Phrynis  came 
from  Lesbos  to  Sparta  with  a  new-stringed  citliara,  the  ephor 
then  in  power  cut  off*  two  of  the  strings.  And  in  the  same 
way,  the  eleven-stringed  cithara  is  said  to  have  been  taken 
by  the  ephors  in  Sparta  from  the  pupil  of  Phrynis,  Timotheus 
of  Miletus,  and  hung  up  in  the  music-hall  in  the  market 
place.  They  remained  as  constant  to  the  seven-stringed 
cithara  of  Terpander  as  to  the  Doric  style  of  melody.  All 
this  contradicts  Aristotle’s  opinion. 

The  power  of  music  in  forming  the  character  was  recog¬ 
nised  by  the  ancient  Egyptians,  and  still  more  by  the  Greeks, 
to  an  extent  which  to  us  moderns  is  almost  unintelligible. 
Of  this  Grote  (ii.  190)  says :  ‘  The  Doric  mode  created  a 
settled  and  deliberate  resolution  exempt  alike  from  the 
desponding  and  impetuous  sentiments.  .  .  .  The  marked 
ethical  effects  produced  by  these  modes  in  ancient  times  are 
facts  perfectly  well  attested,  however  difficult  they  may  be  to 
explain  on  any  general  theory  of  music.’  The  tradition 
regarding  Pythagoras  is  that  he  had  organised  melodies  and 
harmonies  so  as  to  suit  different  affections  and  passions  of 
the  soul.  Milton’s  well-known  lines  in  the  first  book  of 
‘  Paradise  Lost  ’  naturally  occur  to  us  here : 


238 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Anon  they  move 
In  phalanx  perfect  to  the  Dorian  mood 
Of  flutes  and  soft  recorders  ;  such  as  raised 
To  height  of  noblest  temper  heroes  old 
Arming  to  battle,  and  instead  of  rage 
Deliberate  valour  breathed,  firm  and  unmoved 
With  dread  of  death,  to  flight  or  foul  retreat. 

Reading  and  writing  formed,  as  may  be  supposed,  no 
necessary  part  of  the  Spartan  system  of  education,  although 
no  one  was  forbidden  to  acquire  skill  in  them,  and  there  were 
adventure  schoolmasters  in  Sparta  for  boys.  Plutarch  says  : 
‘  Reading  and  writing  they  gave  them  just  enough  to  serve 
their  turn :  their  chief  care  was  to  make  them  good  subjects 
and  to  teach  them  to  endure  pain  and  to  conquer  in  battle.’ 
(i.  106.)  But  the  boys  had  to  learn  by  heart  the  laws  and 
pieces  of  poetry,  which  they  sang ;  and  also  Homer.  The 
majority  of  boys,  we  cannot  doubt,  learned  to  read  and  write 
after  manuscripts  came  into  use,  but  freemen  could  find  a 
truly  worthy  occupation  only  in  gymnastic,  war,  and  hunting. 
Professor  Ussing  (p.  78),  resting  on  a  passage  in  Isocrates 
(‘  Panathen.’  209),  says  that  many  could  neither  read  nor 
write  even  in  the  fourth  century  B.c.  In  truth,  we  find  that 
all  states,  while  engaged  in  moulding  their  civic  life  and 
holding  their  own  against  enemies,  necessarily  look  on 
literary  pursuits  with  a  certain  contempt.  The  mediaeval 
Baron  was  proud  to  be  able  to  say  that  his  sons  could  not 
write : 

Thanks  to  St.  Bothan,  son  of  mine 
Save  Gawain  ne’er  could  pen  a  line. 

Marmion ,  vi.  15. 

The  only  literature  acceptable  in  the  earliest  stages  of 
social  life  is,  first,  war-songs  and  ballads  descriptive  of 
personal  prowess,  and,  secondly,  hymns  to  the  gods,  and, 
thirdly,  songs  of  lamentation  and  joy.  These,  and  Homer 
to  boot,  the  Spartan  boy  knew  although  he  could  not  read. 
We  are  apt  in  these  days  to  forget  that  we  may  have  a 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  239 


highly  civilised  people  without  schools  of  instruction,  and, 
on  the  other  hand  that  schools  may  cover  a  country  and 
the  people  yet  remain  uncivilised. 

Foreign  systems  of  training  and  the  sciences,  were,  as 
might  be  expected,  not  admitted,  with  the  exception  of 
mental  arithmetic  for  practical  purposes.  And,  although 
after  the  Peloponnesian  War  (b.c.  431-404)  grammarians 
and  rhetoricians  are  found,  yet  the  statement  (whether  it 
be  fact  or  fable)  is  characteristic,  namely,  that  Cephisophos 
was  banished  from  the  town  because  he  declared  that  he 
could  speak  the  whole  day  long  on  any  given  subject. 
Ehetoric  had  no  home  in  Sparta.  Tragedies  and  comedies 
were  also  forbidden.  All  purely  scientific  and  learned  occu¬ 
pations  were  held  in  low  esteem. 

In  brief,  the  idea  of  discipline,  bodily  and  mental,  gov¬ 
erned  the  education  of  the  Spartans ;  but  a  certain  religious 
and  civic  training  was  obtained  through  their  songs  and 
tales  and  their  rhythmical  laws. 

3.  The  Education  of  the  Young  Men 

On  entering  their  eighteenth  year,  the  youths  left  the 
public  school-houses  for  boys.  It  was  the  practice  for 
grown  men  to  choose  boys  or  youths  as  favourites,  and  to 
be  responsible  for  their  training.  They  were  expected  to 
set  an  example  of  all  manly  excellence  to  their  pupils.  For 
their  acts,  it  is  said,  the  man  was  even  punishable.  From 
the  eighteenth  till  their  twentieth  year  they  were  called 
melleirenes  (budding  youths),  and  were  allowed  to  let  their 
hair  and  beard  grow.  They  were  now  principally  exercised 
in  arms,  and  occupied  with  drill  and  in  skirmishing.  From 
the  twentieth  to  the  thirtieth  year  their  name  was  eirenes , 
youths ;  they  lived  in  separate  barracks  and  were  compelled, 
under  superintendence  of  the  bidicei  to  apply  themselves  to 
the  prescribed  bodily  exercises.  The  more  specific  military 
training  was  now  begun.  The  most  distinguished  youths 
were  admitted  into  the  troop  of  300  knights,  who,  in  peace, 


240 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


were  at  disposal  of  the  ephors,  and  in  war  accompanied  each 
king  into  the  field,  by  a  hundred  at  a  time. 

An  inscription  found  in  Crete  shows  that  the  Cretan 
and  Spartan  youth  took  a  public  oath  to  serve  the  state 
(probably  similar  to  that  which  we  shall  quote  in  the 
chapter  on  Athenian  education).  At  what  age  they  took 
the  oath  is  not  stated  —  doubtless  when  they  were  twenty 
years  of  age  and  were  called  Irens. 

*  The  discipline  of  the  boys,’  says  Plutarch,  ‘  continued 
still  after  they  were  full-grown  men.  No  one  was  allowed 
to  live  after  his  own  fancy,  but  the  city  was  a  sort  of 
camp  in  which  every  man  had  his  share  of  provisions  and 
business  set  out,  and  looked  upon  himself  as  not  born  to 
serve  his  own  ends  but  the  interest  of  his  country.  There¬ 
fore,  if  they  were  commanded  nothing  else,  they  went  to 
see  the  boys  perform  their  exercises,  to  teach  them  some¬ 
thing  useful,  or  to  learn  it  themselves  of  those  who  knew 
better.  And,  indeed,  one  of  the  greatest  and  highest  bless¬ 
ings  Lycurgus  procured  his  people  was  the  abundance  of 
leisure,  which  proceeded  from  his  forbidding  to  them  the 
exercise  of  any  mean  or  mechanical  trade.  .  .  .  All  their 
time,  except  when  they  were  in  the  field,  was  taken  up  by 
choral  dances  and  festivals,  in  hunting  and  in  attendance 
on  the  exercise  grounds  and  places  of  public  conversation.’ 

The  Spartan  youth  was  not  considered  a  full-grown  man 
and  a  member  of  the  public  assembly  till  his  thirtieth  year. 

At  certain  festivals  there  were  public  exhibitions  of  the 
exercises  which  the  youth  had  practised  in  the  gymnasium, 
and  of  their  attainments  in  music.  On  the  Platanistas  (to 
which  I  have  already  referred,  an  island  formed  by  two 
small  rivulets,  and  shaded  by  plane  trees)  the  melleirenes 
annually  fought  a  battle.  At  the  Karneia,  the  chief  festival 
in  honour  of  Apollo,  which  the  Spartans  celebrated  in 
August,  the  youth  in  a  body  had  to  make  a  display  of  the 
entire  round  of  their  musical,  orchestric,  and  gymnastic  ac¬ 
complishments.  On  a  special  spot  in  the  market-place  they 
year  by  year  danced  the  choral  dances  in  honour  of  Apollo  ; 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES 


241 


here  were  heard  the  chants  of  Thaletas  and  Alcmseon ;  here 
gymnastic  games  were  celebrated  in  presence  of  the  kings 
and  all  the  authorities.  On  such  festal  days  the  chorus  of 
old  men  sang :  ‘We  once  were  men  full  of  vigour  !’  and  the 
chorus  of  the  men  answered,  ‘  But  we  are  so  now ;  if  you 
care,  try  it.’  Whereupon  the  chorus  of  the  boys  repeated, 
‘  We  shall  one  day  be  still  more  vigorous.’  This  fragment, 
attributed  to  Tyrtaeus,  is  preserved  in  Plutarch  (‘  Lyc.’  21). 

The  social  customs  of  the  free  citizens  were  part  of  the 
education  of  youth  from  the  first,  and  for  a  long  period  the 
men  dined  at  common  tables.  On  this  point  Plutarch  says, 
‘  They  met  by  companies  of  fifteen,  more  or  less,  and  each  of 
them  stood  bound  to  bring  in  monthly  a  bushel  of  meal, 
eight  gallons  of  wine,  five  pounds  of  cheese,  two  and  a  half 
pounds  of  figs,  and  some  very  small  sum  of  money  to  buy 
flesh  or  fish  with.  Besides  this,  when  any  of  them  made 
sacrifice  to  the  gods,  they  always  sent  a  dole  to  the  common 
hall ;  and  likewise,  when  any  of  them  had  been  hunting,  he 
sent  thither  a  part  of  the  venison  he  had  killed :  for  these 
two  occasions  were  the  only  excuses  allowed  for  supping  at 
home.  The  custom  of  eating  together  was  observed  strictly 
for  a  great  while  afterwards,  insomuch  that  King  Agis  him¬ 
self,  after  having  vanquished  the  Athenians,  sending  for  his 
commons  at  his  return  home  because  he  desired  to  eat  pri¬ 
vately  with  his  queen,  was  refused  them  by  the  polemarchs, 
and  this  refusal  he  resented  so  much  as  to  omit  next  day  the 
sacrifice  due  for  a  war  happily  ended :  they  then  made  him 
pay  a  fine.  They  used  to  send  their  children  to  these  tables 
as  to  a  school  of  temperance ;  here  they  were  instructed  in 
state  affairs  by  listening  to  experienced  statesmen ;  here  they 
learnt  to  converse  with  pleasantry,  to  make  jests  without 
scurrility,  and  take  them  without  ill-humour.’  (i.  97,  98.) 
He  also  says :  ‘  After  drinking  moderately,  every  man  went 
to  his  home  without  lights,  for  the  use  of  them  was,  on  all 
occasions,  forbid,  to  the  end  that  they  might  accustom  them¬ 
selves  to  march  boldly  in  the  dark.  Such  was  the  common 
fashion  of  their  meals.’ 


16 


242 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


On  the  subject  of  good  manners  Plutarch  says :  ‘  Nor 
was  their  instruction  in  music  and  verse  less  carefully 
attended  to  than  their  habits  of  grace  and  good-breeding  in 
conversation.’ 

As  regards  conversational  training,  an  interesting  state¬ 
ment  is  made  by  Plutarch  (p.  108)  : 

‘  The  iren,  or  under-master,  used  to  stay  a  little  with  them 
after  supper,  and  one  of  them  he  bade  to  sing  a  song,  to  an¬ 
other  he  put  a  question  which  required  an  advised  and  delib¬ 
erate  answer:  for  example,  who  was  the  best  man  in  the 
city  —  what  he  thought  of  such  an  action  of  such  a  man. 
They  used  them  thus  early  to  pass  a  right  judgment  upon 
persons  and  things,  and  to  inform  themselves  of  the  abilities 
or  defects  of  their  countrymen.  If  they  had  not  an  answer 
ready  to  the  question  who  was  a  good,  or  who  an  ill-reputed 
citizen,  they  were  looked  upon  as  of  a  dull  and  careless  dis¬ 
position,  and  to  have  little  or  no  sense  of  virtue  and  honour ; 
besides  this,  they  were  to  give  a  good  reason  for  what  they 
said,  and  in  as  few  words  and  as  comprehensive  as  might 
be :  he  that  failed  of  this  or  answered  not  to  the  purpose, 
had  his  thumb  bit  by  his  master.  Sometimes  the  iren  did 
this  in  the  presence  of  the  old  men  and  magistrates,  that 
they  might  see  whether  he  punished  them  justly  and  in 
due  measure  or  not ;  and  when  he  did  amiss,  they  would 
not  reprove  him  before  the  boys,  but,  when  they  were  gone, 
he  was  called  to  account,  and  underwent  correction,  if  he 
had  run  far  into  either  of  the  extremes  of  indulgence  or 
severity.’ 

The  brief  pointed  question  and  the  concise  but  incisive 
answer  is  still  known  among  us  as  ‘  laconic  ’  and  specimens 
are  preserved  by  Plutarch  in  his  ‘  Apophthegmata.’  To  give 
a  practical  training  to  the  understanding,  to  have  the  art  of 
pointed  and  concise  (hence  laconic)  expression,  to  grasp  the 
kernel  of  every  affair  quickly,  to  move  towards  an  object 
with  directness  —  this  was  the  ideal  of  the  intellectual 
education  of  the  Spartans,  and  in  this  the  men  were  expected 
to  train  the  youths  and  boys,  while  they  showed  them  by 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  243 


their  conversation  liow  they  ought  to  think  of  affairs  and  to 
treat  them. 

Education  in  Sparta,  as  we  see,  was  a  public  education, 
from  childhood  up  to  full  manhood.  Each  citizen  was  con¬ 
cerned  in  the  proper  upbringing  of  his  fellow  citizens. 
Every  man  was  a  teacher  of  the  boy ;  every  youth  had  in 
every  man,  and  in  every  old  man,  to  give  heed  to  his  teacher. 
Every  man,  and  especially  every  old  man,  was  authorised 
and  enjoined  to  chastise  the  erring*  boy  and  youth,  not  with 
words  only,  but  with  the  rod,  wherever  he  found  him,  in  the 
street  or  in  the  exercise  grounds.  The  boy  or  youth  who 
resisted  the  warnings  of  an  old  man  was  visited  with  dis¬ 
grace  and  double  punishment.  Age,  indeed,  enjoyed  in 
Sparta  a  respect  which  is  unique  in  history.  The  young 
man  stood  to  the  old  man  in  the  moral  relation  of  obedience, 
emulation,  and  reverence.  The  younger  were  required  to 
give  way  to  the  old  in  the  streets  and  to  stand  up  in  their 
presence.  ‘  Only  in  Sparta  is  it  pleasant  to  grow  old,’  could 
on  this  account  a  foreigner  once  exclaim,  when  he  witnessed 
this  veneration  of  the  youth  toward  old  age.  ‘The  other 
Greeks  know  what  is  becoming  —  the  Spartans  alone  practise 
it,’  said  an  old  man,  who,  at  Olympia  and  Athens,  was 
attended  to  by  no  one,  was  mocked  by  many,  and  before 
whose  grey  head  the  Spartans  reverentially  rose  up.  (Cic. 
‘de  Sen.’  18.) 

To  conclude :  an  iron  sceptre  ruled  over  the  Spartan  from 
his  seventh  to  his  thirtieth  year.  Flogging  was  the  universal 
punishment;  and  every  boy  as  well  as  every  youth  had  to 
dread  the  stick  of  every  Spartan,  besides  the  official  chastise¬ 
ments  of  the  pcedonomus,  who,  as  ‘  provost-marshal,’  went 
with  his  whip-bearers  through  the  streets  and  the  exercising 
grounds.  Moreover,  the  ephors  went  on  circuit  every  tenth 
day  to  inspect  the  youth,  to  see  whether  their  clothing, 
dormitories,  and  beds  were  according  to  the  regulations; 
whether  the  appearance  and  growth  of  the  boys  was  com- 
formable  to  the  required  development ;  and  they  would  even, 


244 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


it  is  said,  whip  any  one  who  had  grown  broader  and  stouter 
than  he  ought  to  he  according  to  the  standard  applied.  For 
every  offence,  for  every  negligence  of  the  hoys,  strokes  with 
a  cane  or  lashes  with  a  whip  were  inflicted ;  for  the  Spartans 
thoroughly  believed  that  the  strictest  discipline  produced  the 
best  men. 

The  Spartan  education  was  public  in  the  ordinary  sense 
of  the  word.  It  was  public  also  in  the  sense  that  it  was 
open  equally  to  all  free-born  children.  ‘There  are/  says 
Aristotle,  ‘many  people  who  endeavour  to  describe  the 
Lacedaemonian  polity  as  a  democracy  because  of  the  many 
democratical  elements  in  its  constitution.  We  may  instance, 
first,  the  education  of  children.  The  children  of  the  rich  are 
brought  up  in  the  same  way  as  those  of  the  poor,  and  receive 
an  education  which  would  not  be  beyond  the  children  of 
poor  parents.  And  the  same  is  true  of  the  years  succeeding 
childhood;  and  again  afterwards,  when  they  reach  man’s 
estate,  there  is  no  distinction  between  rich  and  poor.  So, 
too,  they  all  fare  alike  in  the  common  meals,  and  the  rich 
wear  a  dress  which  any  poor  man  would  be  able  to  procure.’ 
(Arist.  ‘  Pol.’  vi.  9.) 

4.  The  Education  of  the  Women 

The  education  of  the  Spartan  women  was,  like  that  of  the 
men,  a  public  one.  To  make  the  young  women  as  fit  as  pos¬ 
sible  to  he  vigorous  mothers  of  robust  children,  which  was 
considered  the  most  important  function  of  free-born  women, 
a  gymnastic  course  was  on  the  part  of  the  state  prescribed 
for  the  girls.  In  separate  gymnasia,  divided  into  different 
classes  according  to  their  different  ages,  they  exercised  them¬ 
selves  in  hopping,  dancing  the  Spartan  fling,  in  running, 
wrestling,  leaping,  throwing  the  quoit  and  hurling  the  spear. 
Like  the  boys,  they  also  wore  the  woollen  under-garment, 
although  a  little  longer,  yet  in  their  exercises  slit  up  on  one, 
if  not  both,  thighs.1  They  were  practised,  besides,  in  melodies 

1  On  which  account  the  poet  Ibycus  calls  them  the  ‘  thigh  displayers.’ 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES 


245 


of  many  kinds.  On  particular  festivals  the  young  men  and 
maidens  danced  their  choral  dances  and  sang  their  chants  in 
company.  ‘  Lycurgus  ordered,’  says  Plutarch,  ‘  the  maidens 
to  exercise  themselves  with  wrestling,  running,  throwing  the 
quoit  and  casting  the  dart,  to  the  end  that  the  fruit  they  con¬ 
ceived  might,  in  strong  and  healthy  bodies,  take  firmer  root 
and  find  better  growth ;  and  withal  that  they,  with  this 
greater  vigour,  might  he  the  more  able  to  undergo  the  pains 
of  child-hearing.  And  to  the  end  he  might  take  away  their 
over-great  tenderness  and  fear  of  exposure  to  the  air  and 
all  acquired  womanishness,  he  ordered  that  they  should  go 
naked  1  in  the  processions,’  &c.  They  thus  grew  up,  through 
vigorous  exercise  of  their  muscles,  exposed  to  the  sun  and 
the  free  air,  so  sturdy  and  strong,  that  an  Athenian  woman 
in  Aristophanes  was  forced  to  exclaim  in  regard  to  one  of 
Sparta :  ‘  How  lovely  thou  art,  how  blooming  thy  skin,  how 
rounded  thy  flesh :  what  a  chest ;  thou  mightest  strangle  a 
hull !  ’  In  spite  of  this  masculine  upbringing,  the  Spartan 
women  were  attached  wives  and  good  housekeepers,  and 
there  is  no  evidence,  in  the  opinion  of  most  writers,  of  a  lack 
of  propriety  and  modesty  among  the  young.  On  the  other 
hand,  Plato  in  his  ‘  Laws  ’  and  Aristotle  in  his  ‘  Politics  ’  (ii. 
9)  point  very  distinctly  to  a  different  conclusion. 

It  is  true  the  Spartan  women  did  not  know  how  to  spin 
and  weave  well,  hut  they  knew  how  to  rule  the  house  well, 
and  at  the  same  time,  as  members  of  the  state,  having  a  just 
view  of  their  own  position,  to  speak  with  freedom  in  presence 
of  the  men.  Their  dress  was  simple  and  unadorned.  After 
their  marriage  they  were  veiled  when  they  went  from  home. 
They  seem  to  have  been  thoroughly  alive  to  what  the  state 
required  from  all  those  who  belonged  to  it,  and  they  exer¬ 
cised  upon  son  and  husband  a  deep  and  lasting  influence. 
Their  opinion  was  respected,  their  censure  dreaded,  their 
commendation  sought.  On  the  great  festal  days  to  which 
we  have  already  referred,  the  young  women  used  to  stand 

1  I  imagine  ‘  naked  ’  meant  destitute  of  any  outer  garment,  but  not  posi¬ 
tively  nude. 


246 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


round,  criticising  and  encouraging  the  youth.  ‘  Those  who 
were  commended/  says  Plutarch,  ‘  went  away  proud,  elated, 
and  gratified  with  their  honour  among  the  maidens ;  and 
those  who  were  rallied  were  as  sensibly  touched  by  it  as  if 
they  had  been  reprimanded ;  and  so  much  the  more  because 
the  kings  and  the  elders,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  city,  saw 
and  heard  all  that  passed.’  And  in  later  years  the  husband 
by  the  thought  of  his  wife,  the  son  by  the  remembrance  of 
his  mother,  were  spurred  on  to  all  that  was  esteemed  worthy 
of  honour.  All  have  heard  of  the  heroic  women  of  Sparta 
who  offered  thanks  to  the  gods  in  the  temples  when  their 
husbands  and  sons  had  fallen  gloriously  in  battle  for  their 
country  (as  at  Leuctra,  B.c.  371).  One  such  mother  slew 
her  son  with  her  own  hand,  because  he  had  turned  back  like 
a  coward  from  the  battle  ;  and  another  —  Gorgo  —  the  wife 
of  Leonidas,  delivered  to  her  son  his  shield  with  the  words, 
‘  Either  with  this  or  upon  it.’  ‘  If  the  root  is  good/  says 
Plutarch,  ‘  the  plant  also  grows  the  better/  and  puts  the  ques¬ 
tion,  ‘Why  should  we  not  in  the  case  of  men  have  as  much 
regard  for  a  good  breed  as  in  that  of  dogs  and  horses  ?  ’ 

We  find  two  poems  in  the  Greek  Anthology  illustrative 
of  this  feature  of  the  Spartan  female  character:  — 

Eight  sons  Dsemenata  at  Sparta’s  call 

Sent  forth  to  fight  :  one  tomb  received  them  all. 

No  tears  she  shed,  but  shouted  ‘Victory  ! 

Sparta,  I  bore  them  but  to  die  for  thee.’ 

Again : 

A  Spartan,  his  companion  slain, 

Alone  from  battle  fled  : 

His  mother,  kindling  with  disdain 
That  she  had  borne  him,  struck  him  dead  ; 

For  courage  and  not  birth  alone 
In  Sparta  testifies  a  son. 

Of  the  women,  then,  as  of  the  men,  we  are  entitled  to  say 
that  the  Spartan  system  demanded  the  unconditional  subjec¬ 
tion  of  the  individual  will  to  the  will  of  the  community  as 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  247 


determined  by  law.  The  freedom  of  the  individual  had  no 
existence  as  opposed  to  the  freedom  of  the  whole,  or  rather 
in  the  freedom  of  the  whole  the  individual  had  to  find  his 
freedom. 

Now,  what  was  the  result  of  all  this  exclusiveness  of 
national  life  and  severity  of  discipline  ?  Precisely  those 
results  which  we  see  flowing  from  an  over-severe  system  of 
education  in  families  and  schools  in  these  days.  So  long  as 
the  Spartan  remained  at  home,  he  was  all  that  Lycurgus 
could  have  desired  him  to  be  —  grave,  severe,  brave,  self- 
controlled,  self-sacrificing,  long-enduring,  full  of  respect  for 
his  elders,  full  of  devotedness  to  the  state.  But  take  the 
Spartan  away  from  the  arbitrary  system  under  which  he 
lived,  and  we  are  told  that  he  was  lax  and  licentious,  and  a 
prey  (curiously  enough)  to  that  very  vice  of  avarice  against 
which  so  many  precautions  had  been  taken.  How  was  this  ? 
Because  his  morality  was  a  state-morality,  not  a  personal 
and  individual  free  growth  from  within.  There  was  no  per¬ 
sonal  and  inner  idea  of  morality  up  to  which  he  was  to  live. 
Instead  of  this  there  was  a  civic,  in  truth  little  more  than 
a  tribal  morality  and  a  tribal  virtue,  imposed  by  external 
authority  and  maintained  by  severity.  The  Hellenic  spirit 
was  unquestionably  there,  but  it  had  forged  fetters  for  itself. 
When  Sparta  got  the  better  of  Athens  and  had  to  lead 
Greece,  it  could  not  do  it.  (Spartan  Supremacy,  B.c.  405- 
371.)  Nay,  it  was  disloyal  to  the  Hellenic  idea.  It  wanted 
that  breadth  and  elasticity  of  mind,  that  humanity  of  spirit, 
which  could  alone  enable  it  to  understand,  and,  by  under¬ 
standing,  to  control,  others.  How  else  than  by  a  sympa¬ 
thetic  understanding  of  the  rights  and  feelings  of  others  can 
justice  ever  be  done  among  men  ?  And  when  justice  is  not 
done,  a  state  is  doomed. 

In  view  of  certain  modern  opinions,  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  we  have  in  Sparta  as  near  an  approach  to  state- 
socialism  as  the  history  of  mankind  has  yet  exhibited  — 
socialism,  moreover,  in  the  most  favourable  circumstances, 
because  it  was  the  socialism  of  an  aristocracy  supported  by 


248 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


a  slave  system.  The  state  regulated  the  individual  life,  and, 
by  so  doing,  crushed  out  individuality,  personal  initiation, 
literary  and  scientific  activity,  and  ethical  freedom.  Sparta, 
as  an  interesting  educational  experiment,  is  a  valuable  con¬ 
tribution  to  the  history  of  education,  but  it  is  no  less  in¬ 
structive  to  the  political  philosopher. 

CHAPTEK  IV 

ATHENIAN  AND  IONIC-ATTIC  EDUCATION 

We  turn  now  to  the  chief  representative  of  the  Greek 
spirit  —  the  Athenian.  All  that  we  have  said  of  the  Hel¬ 
lenic  mind  and  of  the  Hellenic  life-ideals,  in  introducing 
the  subject  of  Hellenic  education,  found  its  finest  and  fullest 
expression  in  Attica.  As  in  the  case  of  Sparta,  we  find 
that  with  the  Athenian,  as  with  all  true  Greeks,  the  state  or 
city  was  the  object  round  which  gathered  all  their  interests 
and  all  their  moral  sentiment.  Nay,  we  may  even  say 
that  the  city  was  the  object  of  their  worship,  for  their 
very  gods  were  gods  to  them  as  protectors  and  lovers  of 
the  beautiful  abode  which  their  artistic  hands  had  reared. 
But  the  Athenian  state,  in  the  narrow  sense  of  the  governing 
body  or  executive,  did  not  unduly  predominate  over  the  lives 
of  the  citizen.  Their  democratic  constitution  and  popular 
assemblies  brought  the  governing  body  into  perpetual  con¬ 
tact  with  public  opinion  —  variable  and  fickle,  doubtless,  but 
yet  full  of  ever-fresh  suggestion.  The  despotic  socialism  of 
Sparta  had  no  place.  The  state  did  not  impose  its  abstract 
conception  of  life  on  the  citizen,  it  was  rather  the  citizen  in 
his  free  activity  who  voluntarily  gave  his  life  to  the  state. 
The  individual  had,  it  is  true,  no  ultimate  rights  as  against 
the  state  organism  ;  but  it  was  felt  that  the  state  itself  gained 
most  by  the  free  development  of  the  individual.  (See  Peri¬ 
cles’  speech  already  quoted.)  Accordingly,  while  up  to  the 
fifth  century  B.c.  we  might  say  that  even  in  Athens  the 
morality  of  the  individual  was  a  civic  or  political  mo- 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  249 


rality,  the  elements  of  personality  and  of  a  free  ethics  ex¬ 
isted  even  before  Socrates,  and  were  powerfully  expressed 
in  literature 

The  Athenian  education  was  in  this,  as  in  other  respects, 
a  reflex  of  the  Athenian  life.  ‘  It  is  evident,’  says  Professor 
Wilkins,  ‘  that  a  national  system  of  education  in  the  strictest 
sense  of  the  term  would  have  been  wholly  foreign  to  the 
genius  of  the  Athenian  state.  To  force  every  citizen  from 
childhood  into  the  same  rigid  mould,  to  crush  the  play  of  the 
natural  emotions  and  impulses,  and  to  sacrifice  the  beauty 
and  joy  of  the  life  of  the  agora  or  the  country  home  to  the 
claims  of  military  drill,  were  aims  which  were  happily  ren¬ 
dered  needless  by  the  position  of  Attica,  as  well  as  dis¬ 
tasteful  to  the  Athenian  temperament.’  At  the  same  time 
the  state,  while  leaving  the  education  of  the  citizen  by  the 
parents  free,  prescribed  certain  general  rules.  All  had  to 
be  instructed  in  gymnastic  and  music.  The  Court  of  the 
Areopagus,  moreover,  as  censor  morum  and  guardian  of 
the  ancient  constitution,  exercised  supervision  and  enforced 
certain  laws,  as  we  may  learn  from  Plato  among  others. 
But  the  main  controlling  force  seems  to  have  been  public 
opinion. 

1.  INFANCY 

Gentle  and  kindly  as  the  Athenian  care  of  infants  was, 
yet  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  were  often  taken  from  un¬ 
willing  mothers  to  be  exposed :  the  father  —  not  the  state,  as 
in  Sparta  — determined  this.  But  we  must  note  that  Sparta 
exposed  none  but  the  physically  incapable  :  the  Athenians 
were  more  heartless.  These  exposed  infants  were  sometimes 
picked  up  by  dwellers  outside  the  walls  and  brought  up  ;  or 
sold  as  slaves.  Socrates  refers  to  the  grief  of  a  mother 
deprived  of  her  infant  for  the  first  time,  and  Plato,  as  we  all 
know,  recommends  exposure  in  his  ideal  state.  Aristotle,  in 
his  ‘Politics,’  iv.  16,  considers  it  unnecessary  to  expose  chil¬ 
dren  with  a  view  to  keep  down  the  numbers  of  the  popula¬ 
tion,  because  other  means,  such  as  abortion,  &c.,  can  be 


250 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


resorted  to,  but  he  maintains  ‘  there  should  be  a  law  against 
rearing  any  cripple.’ 

On  the  tenth  day  after  birth,  all  the  friends  of  the  family 
assembled  and  brought  presents.  The  child  was  named  by 
the  father.  There  had  been  a  previous  ceremony  of  sacrifice 
and  of  purification  on  the  seventh  day.  The  infant  was 
carried  several  times  round  the  burning  hearth  by  the  nurse, 
followed  by  the  mother,  and  hence  the  ceremony  was  called 
Amphidronia  or  ‘running  round.’  There  was  much  eating 
and  drinking  and  congratulation,  enlivened  by  music  and 
dancing.  On  the  fortieth  day  the  mother  paid  the  customary 
devotions  at  the  temple.  The  child  was  then  formally  regis¬ 
tered  by  the  father  as  a  member  of  the  city  ward. 

The  first  care  of  the  infant  fell  to  the  mother  and  the  wet- 
nurse  (titthe),  and  thereafter  the  ordinary  nurse  ( tithene ). 
In  the  best  period  of  Athens  the  mother  always  nursed  her 
own  child.  Later,  wet-nurses  were  general.  As  a  rule 
peasant  women  or  female  slaves  were  chosen  for  this  service, 
as  it  was  long  esteemed  dishonouring  for  free  women  to 
engage  in  such  occupations ;  but  the  slaves  when  engaged 
were  treated  as  free,  and  as  members  of  the  family.  But 
free  women  from  the  country,  and  even  free  Athenian  citi¬ 
zens,  sometimes  undertook  the  duty  ;  especially  after  the 
Peloponnesian  War,  when,  owing  to  the  death  of  their 
husbands,  they  were  reduced  to  great  poverty.  The  noble 
and  the  rich  Athenians  usually  preferred  to  get  their  wet- 
nurses  from  Laconia,  that  their  children  might  have  healthy 
and  vigorous  foster-mothers.  The  cradles  consisted  of  simple 
trays,  or  wicker  cots,  hung  like  hammocks,  but  these  are  now 
considered  to  have  been  of  late  introduction.1  When  the 
work  of  the  wet-nurse —  it  lasted  from  a  year  to  a  year  and 
a  half  —  was  ended,  she  was  followed  by  the  ordinary  nurse, 
usually  an  elderly  woman.  She  gave  the  child  its  food, 
which  consisted  largely,  along  with  milk,  of  a  kind  of  broth 
sweetened  with  honey.  She  carried  the  child  out  to  get  the 


1  See  references  in  Becker’s  Charicles,  p.  24,  English  edition,  1886. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  251 


air,  and  with  it  accompanied  the  mother  on  her  visits,  and 
even  to  feasts.1 

To  put  the  child  to  sleep,  cradle-songs  and  lullabies  were 
sung.  Theocritus  has  preserved  or  rather  given  his  own  idea 
of  one  of  these,  as  sung  to  the  twins  Herakles  and  Iphicles : 

Tender  she  touched  their  little  heads  and  sang  : 

Sleep,  baby  boys,  a  sweet  and  healthful  sleep  ; 

Sleep  on,  my  darlings,  safely  through  the  night, 

Sleep,  happy  in  your  baby  dreams,  and  wake 

With  joy  to  greet  the  morning’s  dawning  light.2 

Theoc.  Id.  24,  6. 

To  pacify  and  amuse  the  children,  they  used  a  rattle 
invented  by  the  Pythagorean  Arcliytas,  a  vessel  of  metal 
or  wood  with  small  stones  in  it.  Aristotle  condescends  to 
refer  to  the  rattle  (4  Polit.’  viii.  6,  2) :  ‘  It  is  also  very  neces¬ 
sary  that  children  should  have  some  amusing  employment : 
for  which  purpose  the  rattle  of  Archytas  seems  well-contrived 
which  they  give  children  to  play  with  to  prevent  their  break¬ 
ing  those  things  which  are  about  the  house,  for,  owing  to 
their  youthfulness,  they  cannot  sit  still.’ 

The  nurses  had  the  bad  habit  of  many  modern  nurses  and 
mothers  of  frightening  children  by  threatening  them  with 
bogies.  The  tales  which  the  children  heard  from  the  lips  of 
these  uneducated  women  constituted  their  earliest  education. 
Plato,  Aristotle,  and  Chrysippus  urged  that  care  should  be 
exercised  that  the  tales  of  the  nurses  and  pedagogues  were 
such  as  ought  to  be  told  to  the  young. 

The  ball  was  a  universal  plaything.  As  the  children  grew 
older  there  came  the  hobby-horse,  the  game  with  dice  (made 
of  the  knuckle-bones  of  animals  cut  into  square  pieces)  and 
spinning-tops  both  in  the  house  and  in  the  open  air.  Toys 
and  go-carts  and  ‘  mud-pies  ’  engaged  the  interest  of  Athe- 

1  The  child  was  not  allowed  to  be  exposed  to  the  influence  of  the  moon  ; 
and  from  the  day  of  its  public  acknowledgment  by  the  father,  it  was  provided 
with  amulets  hung  round  the  neck  that  it  might  be  protected  against  magical 
arts  and  the  evil  eye. 

2  Hallard’s  translation,  slightly  altered. 


252 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


nian  children  as  of  the  children  of  all  European  nations. 
Then  followed,  at  a  somewhat  more  advanced  age,  a  game 
which  consisted  in  throwing  slantingly  into  the  water  small 
smooth  stones  and  counting  how  many  leaps  they  made  before 
sinking  (which  we  call  ‘  skimming  ’  or  ‘  ducks  and  drakes  ’), 
blind  man’s  buff,  trundling  hoops,  and  all  kinds  of  games 
with  the  hall,  walking  on  stilts,  leap-frog,  kite-flying,  see-saw¬ 
ing  on  logs  and  swinging,  &c.,  &c.  Girls  had  dolls  made  of 
wax  or  clay,  and  painted.  Blind  man’s  huff  was  played  thus. 
The  hoy  with  his  eyes  bandaged  moved  about  calling  out  ‘  I 
will  catch  a  brazen  fly.’  The  others  answered,  *  You  will 
hunt  hut  you  won’t  catch  it  ’  —  all  the  while  striking  him 
with  whips  till  he  managed  to  catch  one  of  them. 

At  an  early  age  the  children  wore  shoes.  Great  attention 
was  paid  to  their  personal  appearance  generally.  Their  hair 
was  twisted  into  artistic  curls  and  drawn  together  over  the 
forehead  with  a  splendid  comb,  according  to  the  fancy  of 
mother  and  nurse.  In  the  case  of  the  girls  a  slender  make 
was  aimed  at  by  the  use  of  stays,  &c. 

From  all  this  we  see  that  the  early  childhood  of  the 
Athenian  hoy  and  girl  was  easy  and  pleasant.  The  amuse¬ 
ments  seem  to  have  been  substantially  the  same  as  those 
which  prevail  among  civilised  races  at  this  day.  The 
mother’s  influence  practically  ceased  from  the  day  the  boy 
went  to  school.  Indeed,  the  want  of  education  among  the 
Athenian  women  precluded  their  exercising  much  influence 
over  the  boys.  But  during  the  first  seven  years  the  mother 
and  the  nurse  really  laid  the  foundation  of  the  child’s  educa¬ 
tion.  Nursery  rhymes,  stories  in  which  animals  played  a 
part,  thereafter  the  rich  legendary,  heroic,  and  mythical  lore 
of  the  Hellenic  races  were  imparted  to  the  child.1  A  poetic 
and  dramatic  cast  of  mind  was  thus  given,  to  he  nourished 
in  future  years  by  the  school  teaching  and  by  the  public 
drama  and  civic  festivals. 

1  Quintilian  says  (i.  1.  16)  :  Chrysippus  thinks  that  no  part  of  a  child’s  life 
should  he  exempt  from  tuition,  and  that  even  the  three  years  which  he  allows 
to  the  nurses  might  be  turned  to  good  use.  There  is  no  evidence  that  the 
Spartan  child  had  nursery  stories  told  to  it. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  253 


2.  CHILDHOOD  AND  BOYHOOD 

The  play-time  ended  with  the  seventh  year.  Ussing  says, 
however,  that  the  age  at  which  the  boy  was  handed  over 
to  the  slave-pedagogue  was  determined  by  the  age  at  which 
he  was  able  to  receive  instruction,  and  consequently  might 
he  long  before  seven.  The  place  of  the  female  attendant  was 
now  taken  by  the  pedagogue,  who  did  not  impart  instruction, 
but  had  only  a  moral  oversight  of  his  young  charge  both  in 
and  out  of  the  house,  and  whose  business  it  was  to  accom¬ 
pany  him  to  the  schoolmaster  (grammatist)  and  gymnastic 
master  (psedotribe).  For  this  service  they  generally  em¬ 
ployed  a  slave  whom  they  considered  specially  adapted  for 
such  work,  but  still  oftener  one  whom  on  account  of  age  and 
weakness,  or  some  other  defect,  they  could  not  profitably 
employ  otherwise.  Pericles  is  reported  to'have  said,  when  he 
saw  a  slave  fall  from  a  tree  and  break  his  leg,  ‘  Lo,  he  is  now 
a  pedagogue  !  ’  The  necessary  consequence  of  this  pernicious 
custom  was  that  the  free-born  boy  had  but  small  respect  for 
his  pedagogue,  and  often  grew  unruly.  The  pedagogue  had 
charge  of  the  boy  at  all  times.  His  business  was  to  train 
him  in  morality  and  good  manners,  and  he  was  granted  the 
power  of  beating  him,  if  necessary.  The  rules  as  to  the 
external  bearing  of  boys  in  the  street  and  at  table  were 
extremely  strict  in  Athens  no  less  than  in  Sparta.  Doubt¬ 
less  the  view  the  pedagogue  took  of  his  duties  would  not 
always  be  very  lofty.  There  were,  of  course,  many  excep¬ 
tions.  The  answer  of  one  pedagogue  who  had  a  high  con¬ 
ception  of  his  function  and  was  asked  what  his  work 
precisely  was,  is  worth  recording :  ‘  My  duty  is  to  make  the 
good  pleasant  to  boys/ 

3.  STATE  SUPERVISION  AND  SCHOOLS 

In  what  branches  of  knowledge  the  father  should  cause 
his  child  to  be  instructed,  stood  at  his  own  discretion.  By 
law  he  was  bound  only  to  instruction  in  gymnastic  and 
music.  This  is  laid  down  in  the  laws  ascribed  to  Solon. 


254 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


The  first  of  these  laws,  as  quoted  by  Grasberger  (i.  2.  215) 
is :  ‘  Every  citizen  shall  see  to  it  that  his  son  is  instructed 
in  gymnastic  and  music  with  grammar  (i.e.  literature). 
Parents  who  disobey  this  law  are  culpable.  Only  those 
parents  shall  be  supported  (in  their  old  age)  by  their 
grown-up  sons,  who  have  given  them  due  education.’ 1 

The  instruction  was  not  provided  by  the  state :  the 
schools  were  private  undertakings.  But  they  were  sub¬ 
jected  not  only  to  a  certain  moral  control,  but  also,  as  I 
have  already  stated,  to  the  general  superintendence  of  the 
public  authorities.  Although,  in  obedience  to  the  general 
order  of  the  state,  all  Athenian  free  citizens  sent  their 
children  to  the  day-schools,  the  length  of  their  stay  there 
must  have  been  determined,  as  it  is  among  all  nations,  by 
the  social  position  of  the  parents.  We  do  not  need  elabo¬ 
rate  archseological  inquiries  to  convince  us  of  this.  Eor 
the  poorer  class  a  little  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic 
would  suffice.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  whoever 
wished  to  be  accounted  as  a  truly  worthy  citizen  of  Athens 
must  have  passed  through  a  certain  gymnastic  course  under 
the  psedotribe  (gymnastic  master)  in  the  palaestra,  the 
music  course  in  its  narrower  sense  under  the  citharist 
(teacher  of  music),  and  the  literary  course  under  the  gram- 
matist.  But  most  of  the  time  seems  to  have  been  spent 
in  gymnastic  and  play. 

Nor  did  the  state  provide  school-buildings  any  more  than 
it  prescribed  the  details  of  instruction.  But,  notwithstand¬ 
ing  this,  schools  ( didaskaleia )  were  spread  over  the  various 
‘  wards  ’  of  the  city  and  were  to  be  found  in  all  Greek 
towns.  It  was  not  unusual  to  teach  even  in  the  open  air 
in  some  recess  of  a  street  or  temple.  It  is  probable  that 
these  open  air  schools  were  frequented  by  the  poorer  classes 
chiefly  or  solely.  Of  the  younger  Dionysius  in  Corinth, 
Justin,  xxi.  5,  says :  novissime  ludi  magistrum  professus 

1  Monsieur  Girard  thinks  this  applied  only  to  instruction  in  some  trade. 
But  if  Grasberger’s  quotation  is  correct  the  reference  was  to  education 
generally. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  255 


pueros  in  trivio  docebat.  Almost  universally,  however,  there 
were  buildings  devoted  to  school  purposes.  The  misfortune 
that  befel  the  school  in  the  little  Boeotian  town  of  Myca- 
lessus  related  by  Thucydides  is  well  known  (vii.  29).  The 
Thracians  fell  upon  a  boys’  school,  which  was  a  large  one, 
and  slaughtered  all  the  children.  In  500  B.c.  the  school  at 
Chios  fell  in,  as  Herodotus  tells  us,  and  killed  119  out  of  120 
children.  Pausanias  also  tells  a  story  of  a  Greek  who  went 
mad  after  losing  a  prize  at  Olympia,  and,  returning  to  his 
native  place,  entered  a  school,  and  pushing  the  pillars  that 
sustained  the  roof,  brought  it  down  on  the  heads  of  60  chil¬ 
dren,  burying  them  under  the  ruins.  But  even  such  schools  as 
were  held  in  buildings  did  not  receive  any  state-support,  and 
were,  strictly  speaking,  ‘  adventure  schools  ’  supported  by  fees. 

The  precise  extent  of  the  state  supervision  of  schools,  to 
which  I  have  referred  above,  is  in  doubt.  The  Court  of  the 
Areopagus  existing  before  Solon’s  time  but  reconstructed  by 
him  on  a  more  popular  basis,  exercised  great  powers  over  all 
questions  of  morals  and  conduct ;  and  this  power  there  can 
be  no  doubt  they  exercised,  when  necessary,  in  the  ordinary 
schools  as  they  did  in  the  gymnasia  of  the  ephebi  or  youths. 
The  mere  fact  that  there  was  no  organised  school-system 
would  make  them  all  the  more  ready  to  exercise  their  large 
and  undefined  powers  as  occasion  presented  itself.  They 
were  ‘  superintendents  of  good  order  and  decency,’  and  under 
cover  of  this  it  would  be  hard  to  say  what  they  might  not 
do.  They  were  a  check  on  the  licence  of  the  democracy, 
and  the  extent  of  their  power  would  depend  on  the  prudence 
with  which  they  exercised  it.  This  Areopagitic  Council  was 
shorn  of  much  of  its  political  power  in  the  time  of  Pericles  ; 
but  we  may  presume  that  there  would  be  little  objection  to 
its  continued  supervision  of  morals  and  conduct.  Among 
much  that  is  uncertain  we  may  safely  conclude  generally 
that,  through  the  agency  of  either  the  Sophronists  or  Strategi 
the  authorities  in  Athens  kept  a  watchful  eye  on  schools  — 
especially  the  gymnastic  schools,  but  without  vexatious 
interference. 


256 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Instruction  began  in  the  early  morning,  and  by  law  tbe 
schools  had  to  be  closed  before  sunset.  The  schools  of 
the  better  class  were  generally  ornamented  with  statues  of 
the  gods,  busts  of  heroes,  and  pictorial  illustrations  of  inci¬ 
dents  in  Homer.  There  is  a  fragment  of  such  a  pictorial 
table  in  the  Capitoline  Museum  at  Rome  —  the  Tabula  Iliaca 
of  Theodorus.  On  entering,  the  boy  saluted  the  master  and 
his  schoolfellows.  The  master  sat  on  a  high  seat  from  which 
he  taught ;  the  pupils  on  benches :  but  whether  the  teaching 
was  individual  or  collective  (in  classes)  does  not  seem  quite 
clear,  probably  both. 

4.  EDUCATION  OF  THE  SCHOOL 

( a )  Primary  instruction  and  methods  —  literary 

education 

The  Music  curriculum  was  divided  into  two  parts,  one 
specially  literary,  and  one  specially  musical. 

In  the  literary  course,  under  the  grammatist,  the  first  ele¬ 
ments  of  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  were  learned. 

Reading.  —  In  learning  to  read,  children  learned  synthet¬ 
ically,  i.e.  they  learned  the  individual  letters  first  by  heart,1 
then  their  sounds,  then  as  combined  into  meaningless  sylla¬ 
bles,  and  then  into  words.  The  analytic  method  of  taking 
words  first  and  analysing  the  various  sounds  in  them,  and 
teaching  these  on  phonic  principles,  is  held  by  some  to  have 
been  practised,  but  of  this  there  is  no  sufficient  evidence. 
‘  We/  says  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus,  who  died  about  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  ‘  learn  first  the  names  of  the 
elements  of  speech,  what  are  called  grammata :  then  their 
shape  and  functions,  then  the  syllables  and  their  affections  : 
lastly,  the  parts  of  speech,  and  the  particular  mutations  con¬ 
nected  with  each,  as  inflexion,  number,  contraction,  accents, 
position  in  the  sentence ;  then  we  begin  to  read  and  to  write, 
at  first  in  syllables  and  slowly,  but  when  we  have  attained 

1  Athenseus  gives  a  metrical  alphabet,  and  probably  it  was  chanted 
(Becker’s  Chctricles,  p.  232). 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  257 


the  necessary  certainty,  easily  and  quickly.1  'De  Compos. 
Verb.’  c.  25. 

Plaques  of  baked  earth  on  which  the  alphabet  was  written 
or  painted  were  frequently  used. 

The  chief  difficulties  to  be  encountered  by  the  child  when 
lie  began  to  read  were  the  learning  of  the  proper  accents,  as 
these  were  not  indicated  by  signs,  and  the  separating  of  one 
word  from  another,  as  words  were  written  continuously  with¬ 
out  a  break.2  There  was  moreover  no  punctuation.  It  is 
possible  that,  inasmuch  as  good,  nay  merely  intelligible, 
reading,  was  in  these  circumstances,  possible  only  when  the 
sense  was  fully  grasped,  the  want  of  separation  of  words  and 
of  punctuation  may  have  contributed  largely  to  mental  dis¬ 
cipline  as  well  as  to  good  elocution.  The  manuscripts  were 
either  folded  or  rolled.  If  the  interpretation  of  Dionysius  is 
correct,  parts  of  speech,  &c.  were  taught  orally  before  begin¬ 
ning  to  read.3 

After  the  pupil  was  able  to  read,  beautiful  reading  was 
practised  —  special  attention  being  paid  to  the  length  and 
shortness  of  syllables  and  to  the  accentuation.  Purity  of 
articulation  and  accent  were  specially  regarded.  The  pupils 
were  taught  the  raising  and  lowering  of  the  voice,  and  to 
bring  out  the  melody  and  rhythm  of  the  sentences,  and  all 
this  with  distinct  enunciation  and  expression.  Homer 
served  as  the  usual  reading-book ;  then  Hesiod,  Theognis, 
Phocylides,  and  Solon,  as  well  as  the  fables  of  iEsop,  and 
generally  ‘  poems  in  which,’  as  Protagoras  says  in  Plato, 
‘  were  contained  many  admonitions  and  illustrations  of  con¬ 
duct,  also  praise  and  eulogy  of  distinguished  men,  that  the 
boys  might  admiringly  imitate  them,  and  strive  themselves 
also  to  become  distinguished.’  At  an  early  period  collections 
of  the  most  choice  specimens  of  the  poetic  art  (anthologies) 

1  This  translation  is  after  comparison  of  the  original  with  the  parallel  pas¬ 
sage  in  De  Admir.  Vi  Die.  in  Demosth.  c.  52. 

2  If  MSS.  were  always  written  as  inscriptions  were  written. 

3  ra  irepl  raOra  iradr].  This  must  mean  either  the  changes  which  may 
be  rung  on  syllables,  as  when  we  say  cat ,  pat,  rat ,  or  the  noun-inflexion 
endings. 


17 


258 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


were  used.  These  poems,  especially  Homer,  Hesiod,  and 
Theognis,  served  at  the  same  time  for  drill  in  language  and 
for  recitation,  whereby  on  the  one  hand  the  memory  was 
developed  and  the  imagination  strengthened,  on  the  other 
the  heroic  forms  of  antiquity  and  healthy  primitive  utter¬ 
ances  regarding  morality,  and  full  of  homely  common  sense, 
were  deeply  engraved  on  the  young  mind.  The  poems  were 
explained  to  the  pupils  and  questions  were  asked.  Homer 
was  regarded  not  merely  as  a  poet,  but  as  an  inspired  moral 
teacher,  and  great  portions  of  his  poems  were  learned  by 
heart.  The  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey  were  in  truth  the  Bible  of 
the  Greeks.  There  was  also  much  practice  of  dictation  and 
learning  by  heart  of  what  the  pupils  wrote  down  from  the 
master’s  dictation  —  a  practice  which  continued  in  all  schools 
and  universities  till  after  the  invention  of  printing.  In  the 
Greek  schools  the  master  recited  and  the  scholar  repeated 
after  him  until  he  could  say  the  passage  by  himself.  The 
scarcity  of  books  had  its  advantages,  as  it  must  have  com¬ 
pelled  the  masters  to  resort,  more  than  they  would  otherwise 
have  done,  to  oral  teaching  in  which  mind  meets  mind  with¬ 
out  the  interposition  of  the  printed  page.1 

Arithmetic. — In  arithmetic  only  so  much  was  taught 
(owing,  doubtless,  to  the  cumbrous  system  of  notation)  as 
was  necessary  for  the  reckonings  of  the  market-place.  The 
Greeks  attained  great  proficiency  within  these  limits.  An 
abacus  or  calculating-board  was  in  use  (but  not  the  same 
as  our  modern  frame),  the  balls  having  different  values 
assigned  to  them  as  in  the  East  generally,  and  to  this 
day  in  China.  The  fingers  were  freely  used  to  assist  in 
calculation. 

Writing.  — Eor  writing  they  used  in  earlier  times  tablets 
covered  with  wax  and  a  stylus  or  graver,  one  end  of  the  style 
being  flattened  for  rubbing  out  what  was  written.  These 
tablets  were  often  diptychs  and  triptychs.  For  the  children 
who  could  not  yet  write,  lines  were  drawn  and  a  copy  set 
with  the  stylus ;  they  imitated  the  copy  writing  on  their 

1  See  an  interesting  passage  in  Plato’s  Phcedrus.  Jowett’s  Plato,  p.  614. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  259 

knees,  there  being  no  desks.  Some  say  they  began  by  trac¬ 
ing  letters  which  had  been  first  lightly  written  by  the  master 
(the  master  guiding  the  hand)  ;  and  this  is  highly  probable. 
Sometimes  they  carried  the  stylus  over  letters  cut  in  wooden 
tablets.  They  drew  straight  lines  with  a  ruler  to  keep  the 
writing  regular.  Plato  thought  very  little  of  writing  and 
considered  that  not  too  much  time  should  be  given  to  it.  It 
was  enough  in  his  opinion,  I  presume,  to  he  able  to  write 
legibly.  When  older,  the  pupils  wrote  with  pen  ( calamus ) 
and  ink  on  papyrus  or  parchment.  Owing  to  the  cost  of 
parchment  they  practised  on  the  hack  of  leaves  already 
written  on  on  one  side. 

Drawing.  —  Drawing  was  much  insisted  on  by  Aristotle 
(‘  Polit.’  viii.  3).  It  was  not  till  his  time  that  it  began  to  be 
taught  in  the  ordinary  schools.  But  in  the  course  of  the 
fourth  century  B.c.  it  entered  largely,  if  not  always,  into  the 
general  education,  according  to  Grasberger  and  others.  It 
was  first  introduced  from  Sicyon.  The  drawing  was  on 
smooth  boxwood  surfaces  —  white  on  a  black  ground,  or  red 
and  black  on  a  white  ground.  The  instrument  used  was  a 
pencil. 

Geometry.  —  Highly  as  both  Aristotle  and  Plato  es¬ 
teemed  geometry  as  a  school  subject,  it  would  appear  that 
it  was  not  till  the  later  period  of  Athenian  education  (end 
of  the  fifth  century  B.c.)  that  it  was  introduced  into  the 
schools. 

Geography  was  sometimes  taught,  and  maps  began  to  come 
into  use  about  the  time  of  Plato. 

(b)  Secondary  education 

The  grammatist  was  the  name  of  the  elementary  teacher. 
(The  word  didaskalus  was  used  in  a  generic  sense.)  Those 
boys  who  could  afford  to  continue  their  education  went  in 
Romano-Hellenic  times,  hut  not  (so  far  as  I  can  find)  during 
the  purely  Hellenic  period,  to  a  grammaticus ;  hut  it  must 
be  understood  that  the  line  of  demarcation  between  these 
teachers  was  by  no  means,  till  later  times,  clear.  The  ‘  sec- 


260 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


ondary  ’  instruction,  such  as  it  was,  was  doubtless  given  by 
grammatists  of  more  than  usual  learning,  until  the  two  func¬ 
tions  were  differentiated.  In  Scotland  we  have  had  a  similar 
experience. 

In  what  did  the  ‘  secondary  ’  education  of  the  young 
Athenian  consist  before  secondary  schools  taught  by  gram- 
matici  took  definite  form :  this  probably  not  till  about  350 
b.c.  ? 1  It  is  difficult  to  say.  It  was  not  till  he  was  about 
thirteen  years  of  age  that  a  boy  began  to  learn  to  play  a 
musical  instrument,  and  this,  with  the  lyric  poetry  with 
which  music  was  always  associated  and  the  continued  read¬ 
ing  and  recitation  of  poetry,  seems  to  me  to  have  constituted 
‘secondary’  instruction  —  at  least  till  about  350  b.c.  After 
that  date  we  know  that  drawing  and  geometry,  and  (a  little 
later)  grammar  as  a  philological  study,  began  to  enter  into 
the  curriculum  of  those  who  continued  at  school  after  the 
primary  period.  It  would  be  at  this  time  that  the  differen¬ 
tiation  between  primary  and  secondary  schools  would  natu¬ 
rally  arise.  We  shall  see  the  distinction  clearly  marked, 
nay  emphasised,  in  Eome  (which  followed  Greece  in  all 
educational  matters)  certainly  not  later  than  150  B.c.  In 
the  secondary  school  of  the  grammaticus  when  it  was  finally 
recognised,  grammar  and  literary  criticism  were  leading 
studies,  and  the  foundations  were  thus  laid  for  subsequent 
instruction  in  rhetoric  and  oratory,  into  which  studies,  in¬ 
deed,  the  grammaticus  frequently  carried  his  pupils. 

The  youths  after  obtaining  such  secondary  instruction  as 
was  available  went  (from  about  400  B.c.)  to  the  sophists  in 
order  to  study  rhetoric,  &c.  These  were  the  highest  instruc¬ 
tors.  I  shall  speak  of  them  in  the  sequel. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  system  of  education 
above  sketched  was  in  any  way  formally  organised.  It 
was  a  voluntary  and  natural  growth,  and  doubtless  under¬ 
went  all  the  fluctuations  that  are  inherent  in  voluntary 
institutions. 

1  Isocrates  assumes  a  certain  amount  of  what  we  call  secondary  instruction 
in  the  case  of  his  pupils. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  261 


(c)  Music  in  the  narrower  sense  of  the  word 

Music,  that  is  to  say  the  chanting  and  singing  of  songs, 
was,  I  am  disposed  to  think,  the  primary  basis  of  all  Greek 
literary  education.  It  was  common  to  the  Doric  and  Ionic 
races.  The  music  was  always  subservient  to  the  words.  It 
is  not  improbable  that  it  was  the  musician,  as  being  the 
traditionary  channel  for  ballad  and  lyrical  literature,  who 
first  (in  the  earliest  times)  added  reading  and  writing  to  his 
ordinary  instructions.  For  a  considerable  time,  and  until 
MSS.  were  accessible,  the  instruction  must  have  been  oral. 
The  functions  of  the  music  teacher  and  the  grammatist  were 
afterwards  separated.  For  a  considerable  period,  however,  if 
not  always,  the  music  instruction  seems  to  have  been  given 
in  the  same  buildings  as  the  literary  instruction. 

In  the  special  music  course,  which  did  not  begin,  it  would 
appear,  till  the  thirteenth  year,  the  Athenian  youth  were  taught 
by  the  citharist  to  play  on  musical  instruments,  especially 
the  lyre,  a  seven-stringed  instrument  (originally  four  strings).1 
For  a  time,  after  the  Persian  wars,  instruction  was  also  given 
on  the  flute,  which  became  very  fashionable,  the  name  being 
given  to  any  instrument  played  with  the  mouth,  such  for  ex¬ 
ample  as  our  flageolet.  It  was  this  instrument  which  was 
popular  in  Boeotia.  Plutarch  relates  that  Alcibiades  refused 
to  play  on  the  flute,  partly  on  account  of  the  contortions  of 
the  face  to  which  it  gave  rise,  partly  because  he  who  played 
it  could  neither  speak  nor  sing  while  so  doing,  and  that  he 
also  begat  in  others  a  most  decided  aversion  to  the  iristru- 

O 

ment,  which  on  this  account  fell  at  last  into  contempt.  The 
true  cause,  however,  of  its  falling  into  disuse  was  probably 
the  exciting  character  of  the  music  it  produced  and  the  im¬ 
possibility  of  accompanying  the  music  with  the  voice.  The 
Greek  flute  had  not  the  soft  sentimental  tones  of  the  modern 
flute.  The  object  of  the  musical  instruction  was  educational, 

1  The  cithara  was  more  of  a  professional  instrument,  and  is  discoun¬ 
tenanced  by  Aristotle.  It  had  a  sounding-board  and  was  played  with  a 
plektron.  The  most  recent  authority  on  Greek  music  is  Dr.  Munro,  of 
Oxford,  in  his  book  entitled  Modes  of  Creek  Music. 


262 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


but  also  to  enable  all  to  take  part  in  religious  services  and 
in  friendly  social  entertainments.  ‘  Music,’  says  Aristotle, 
Book  V.,  ‘  was  introduced  by  our  forefathers  for  the  rational 
enjoyment  of  leisure.’ 

The  boys  were  instructed  in  rhythm  and  melody,  and 
their  ear  trained  to  a  feeling  of  the  measure.  This  would 
be  necessary  to  good  elocution.  The  Greeks  believed  that 
by  music  the  spirit  of  the  young  was  elevated,  and  that  they 
became  rhythmical  and  harmonious  in  mind  and  manners. 
At  the  same  time  table-songs  were  learned  by  heart  with  a 
view  to  increasing  the  pleasure  of  social  meetings.  These 
songs  pithily  and  wittily  enforced  homely  sentiments  and 
the  principles  of  morality,  patriotism,  and  worldly  wisdom. 
The  Doric  strain  (a  minor  scale)  was  that  usually  adopted 
for  such  purposes,  and  they  gave  it  the  preference  because  it 
was  characterised  by  a  dignified  repose,  and  more  than  any 
other  seemed  to  give  expression  to  high  spirit  and  to  manli¬ 
ness.  The  soft  and  voluptuous  Lydian  measure  ( a  major 
scale)  was  denounced  as  immoral  in  its  tendency,  while  the 
Phrygian  (also  a  minor  scale)  was  passionate.1  In  the  earli¬ 
est  stage  of  instruction,  the  citharist  dictated  to  the  children 
simple  songs,  which  they  were  required  to  learn  by  heart. 
Then  they  had  to  learn  the  sustained  and  chant-like  airs  to 
which  they  were  set.  One  of  the  first  poems  which  they 
learned,  is  said  to  have  been  : 

Pallas,  dread  destroyer  of  cities, 

Thou  war-din-raising  goddess, 

Holy,  enemy-averting  daughter  of  Jove, 

I  call  on  thee, 

Horse-taming,  noblest  virgin. 

The  boys  were  not  meant  to  attain  professional  skill  in 
singing  and  playing :  their  musical  ability  was  only  to  be 
so  far  developed  as  to  enable  them,  when  grown  up,  to  take 
part  in  choruses  and  sing  table-songs,  &c.  This  was  the 
direct  practical  aim  of  the  instruction  under  the  citharist ; 

1  The  Ionian  and  iEolian  had  also  their  specific  characters. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  263 


but  the  main  purpose  of  teaching  music  was  unquestionably 
to  produce  harmony  and  balance  of  soul,  while  at  the  same 
time  introducing  the  boy  to  the  lyrical  literature  of  his 
country.  The  music  teaching  was  never  dissociated  from 
verses  —  lyric  poems  or  hymns.  ‘  The  poetry  and  music 
together  formed  a  single  work  of  art.’  In  the  4  Protagoras  ’ 
Plato  says :  ‘  They  make  rhythm  and  harmony  familiar  to 
the  souls  of  boys,  that  they  may  grow  more  gentle  and 
graceful  and  harmonious,  and  so  be  of  service  both  in  words 
and  deeds ;  for  the  whole  life  of  man  stands  in  need  of  grace 
and  harmony.’  And  Aristotle  and  Plutarch  utter  similar 
sentiments ;  and  to  these  we  may  add  Polybius.  That  the 
aim  of  music  teaching  was  ethical  is  further  shown  by  the 
stress  which  both  Aristotle  and  Plato  lay  on  the  importance 
of  the  state  controlling  school-music  in  order  to  secure  sound 
moral  results.  In  short,  the  boy  was  taught  music,  not  that 
he  might  be  a  musician,  but  that  he  might  be  musical. 

It  was  always,  indeed,  the  education  of  mind  and  body  as 
a  unity  which  the  Athenian  kept  constantly  in  view  —  not 
technical  facility  in  any  art  whatsoever.  ‘  To  be  always  in 
quest  of  what  is  useful,’  says  Aristotle,  ‘  is  not  becoming  to 
high-minded  men  and  freemen.’  Even  as  regards  gymnastic 
and  music  the  ‘  professional  ’  was  not  highly  esteemed. 
Plutarch  says  that  when  Alexander  played  and  sang  on  one 
occasion  with  particular  skill,  his  father  Philip  said,  ‘  Are 
you  not  ashamed  to  play  so  well?’ 

Taking  the  literary  and  musical  education  together,  we 
must  conclude  that  ‘  the  mental  culture  was  but  plain  and 
simple,  yet  it  took  hold  of  the  entire  man ;  and  this  all  the 
more  deeply  and  thoroughly  because  the  youthful  mind  was 
not  distracted  by  a  multiplicity  of  subjects  and  could  there¬ 
fore  more  closely  devote  itself  to  the  mental  food  and  to  the 
materials  of  culture  offered  to  it.’  (Curtius,  ‘History,’  ii.  416.) 

The  young  Greek  had  a  rich  literature  to  draw  on.  The 
intellectual  and  aesthetic  education  of  the  children  of  a  nation 
is  necessarily  governed  by  its  literature.  The  Egyptians  and 


264 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Babylonians,  even  if  they  had  had  an  organised  system  of 
schools,  could  have  made  little  of  them.  The  literary  mate¬ 
rials  of  Greek  national  education  were  on  the  other  hand  ex¬ 
traordinarily  various  and  abundant.  To  Homer  is  generally 
assigned  the  date  of  about  1,000  years  before  Christ,  and  he 
is  closely  followed  by  Hesiod,  while  the  number  of  unnamed 
rhapsodists  and  handers  down  of  national  traditions  of  reli¬ 
gion  and  conduct  and  of  heroism  must  have  been  great.  In 
the  seventh  century  before  Christ  we  have  in  the  elegiac  and 
lyrical  poets  a  natural  development  of  the  heroic  rhapsodist 
and  religious  hymn-writer.  (Callinus,  Archilochus,  Tyrtseus, 
Aleman,  and  Sappho.)  The  sixth  century  again  is  especially 
the  period  of  gnomic  or  ethical  poetry  —  Solon,  Theognis, 
Phocylides,  and  the  sayings  of  the  Wise  men.  At  the  end 
of  this  century  and  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  we  have  again 
the  lyrical  poets  Anacreon  and  Pindar ;  and  about  the  same 
period,  tragedy  —  a  combination  and  evolution  of  the  gnomic, 
the  heroic,  and  choral  lyric  —  was  firmly  established  by 
iEschylus.  In  education,  as  indeed  in  public  life,  the  poets, 
let  us  remember,  were  regarded  by  the  Greeks  as  teachers  of 
wisdom  and  as  moral  guides.  The  end  of  the  seventh  and 
the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century  also  saw  the  rise  of  specu¬ 
lative  philosophy,  which  reached  its  highest  point  in  the 
fifth  and  the  fourth  centuries  B.c.  Oratory  also  reached  its 
highest  and  finest  development  in  the  fourth.  I  mention 
these  things  because  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  understand  the 
literary  side  of  Greek  education  without  realising  the  immense 
mass  of  literary  material  by  means  of  which  the  education 
could  be  conducted  —  literary  material  existing  more  or  less 
(but  always  growing  from  generation  to  generation  in  quan¬ 
tity  and  excellence)  for  500  if  not  600  years  before  the  birth 
of  Plato  in  430  B.c. 


(d)  Gymnastic 

About  the  eighth  year,  physical  education  was  begun  with 
gymnastic  exercises  under  the  psedotribe  (boys’  gymnastic 
master)  after  preparation  had  already  been  made  for  it  by 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  265 


means  of  easy  games  in  the  paternal  home.  After  the 
age  of  fourteen  or  fifteen,  gymnastic  took  precedence  of 
literary  instruction.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  gymnastic 
instruction  of  children  began  at  the  same  time  as  the  literary 
instruction  or  after  some  progress  had  been  made  in  learning 
to  read  and  write.  The  gymnastic  exercises  had  for  their 
object  in  Athens  the  discipline  of  the  body  with  a  view  to 
giving  it  a  healthy  development  and  a  noble  carriage. 

The  poedotribe,  as  I  have  said,  was  not  appointed  by  the 
state.  Like  the  teacher  of  the  day-school,  he  opened  a  palaes¬ 
tra  or  wrestling  school ;  but  he  was  in  all  cases  under  state 
supervision,  and  subject  to  certain  state-regulations  which 
had  in  view  mainly  the  moral  demeanour  of  the  boys.  The 
paedotribe  himself  gave  the  gymnastic  instruction,  but  there 
were  present  also  in  the  arena  the  moral  superintendent  or 
censor  who  had  the  oversight  of  morals,  and  the  anointers 
who  arranged  and  superintended  the  dietetic  regimen  and 
anointed  or  saw  to  the  anointment  of  the  body  with  oil, 
which  after  exercise  had  to  be  scraped  off. 

The  palaestra  was  reserved  for  boys  and  the  gymnasium 
for  the  ephebi  (youths  of  eighteen  years)  and  full-grown 
men.  Plato,  and  the  Athenians  generally,  looked  with  most 
favour  on  games  which  gave  room  for  the  exhibition  of  the 
moral  qualities  of  spirit  (or  as  we  should  say,  pluck)  and  in¬ 
telligence  —  mere  animal  force  being  regarded  as  of  compara¬ 
tively  small  account. 

The  exercises  were  graduated  from  the  easier  to  the  more 
difficult,  and  aimed  at  forming  the  body  in  -all  its  stages  of 
development.  During  the  exercises  the  boys  were  arranged 
in  two  or  three  divisions.  These  were  united  at  festivals, 
especially  at  the  Hermtea.  Lively  games,  especially  games 
with  the  ball,  appear  to  have  been  first  taken  up.  Swim¬ 
ming  was  practised  very  early.1  Among  the  first  exercises 

1  On  this  point  Professor  Mahaffy,  I  notice,  throws  doubt.  Why  he  does 
so  I  cannot  understand,  as  swimming  is  especially  mentioned  in  the  earliest 
laws.  There  was  also  a  common  phrase  applied  to  an  uneducated  man,  ‘  he 
can  neither  swim  nor  say  his  alphabet.’  (See  also  Krause,  p.  100,  for  an  apt 
authority. ) 


266 


PRE-CURISTIAN  EDUCATION 


were :  standing  on  tip-toe,  while  performing  certain  active 
movements  of  the  arms ;  jumping ;  hanging  and  climbing  on 
the  rope ;  holding  a  weight  with  extended  arms ;  the  simple 
race ;  boxing,  wrestling,  &c.  After  sufficient  training,  more 
advanced  exercises  were  undertaken.  There  was  a  contest 
called  the  pentathlon,  in  which  five  exercises  performed  in  suc¬ 
cession  by  the  same  person  were  included,  viz.  leaping,  run¬ 
ning,  throwing  the  discus,  throwing  the  spear,  and  wrestling. 
This  had  a  place  even  at  the  Olympic  games.  The  pancra¬ 
tium ,  in  which  wrestling  and  boxing  together,  and  the  use  of 
feet  as  well  as  hands  was  allowed,  seems  to  have  been  toler¬ 
ated,  but  was  reserved  for  the  elder  boys ;  and,  always  at 
Athens,  under  certain  regulations  which  distinguished  it 
from  the  pancratium  of  the  professional  athlete.  In  the 
palaestra,  attention  was  paid  to  the  deportment  of  the  boys, 
and  the  rod  was  as  little  spared  here  as  under  the  citharist.1 
At  one  time  music  was  associated  with  gymnastic  exercises. 
Our  recently  introduced  musical  drill  is  consequently  only  a 
revival. 

Dancing  formed  part  of  the  physical  training;  but  by 
dancing  was  not  meant  the  rhythmical  movement  of  the  feet 
alone  but  of  the  whole  body :  and  this  to  music.  But  this 
exercise,  admirable  as  it  is,  did  not  form  part  of  the  regular 
training  of  the  young  Athenian.  Thorough  training  in  danc¬ 
ing  was  confined  to  the  trained  choral  bands  who  performed 
at  festivals  and  in  the  temple  and  theatre.  The  dances  culti¬ 
vated  that  grace  and  delicacy  of  movement  to  which  the 
Athenian  had  already  in  himself  a  natural  bent.  Indeed,  it 
was  of  common  knowledge  in  the  ancient  world  that  even  a 
poor  Athenian  citizen  distinguished  himself  among  all  other 
men  by  his  easy  carriage  and  graceful  bearing.  The  dances 
were  of  various  kinds,  religious,  warlike,  and  Corybantean. 
Popular  dances  were  also  handed  down  in  which  all  took 


1  The  proportion  of  time  given  to  the  palaestra  and  the  day-school  is  not 
known,  nor  is  it  quite  certain  at  what  hours  of  the  day  the  palaestra  was 
chiefly  frequented.  It  is  understood,  however,  that  it  was  visited  twice  a  day 
—  jn  the  morning  before  breakfast;  and  again  before  sunset. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  267 


part,  but  (as  I  have  said  above)  the  training  in  dancing  was 
not  a  part  of  the  regular  education,1  though  what  we  now 
call  ‘  musical  drill  ’  was  practised. 

The  ephebi  —  youths  of  eighteen  years  (now  of  age  and 
capable  of  bearing  arms)  —  no  longer  attended  the  palaestra 
but  the  gymnasium,  and  received  there  instruction  from  the 
gymnast  (trainer  of  professional  athletes)  and  other  teachers.2 
Full-grown  men  also  were  expected  to  continue  the  exercises 
which  as  boys  and  youths  they  had  practised.  And  on 
occasion  of  sacrifices  at  the  Panatlienma  —  special  wrestling 
matches  were  arranged  for  them. 

(e)  Moral  education 

An  ideal  aim  and  a  moral  purpose  ran  through  the  whole 
of  Athenian  education.  Lucian  thus  sums  up  the  teaching 
which  the  young  Athenian  received:  —  ‘We  commit  our 
children  first  to  the  care  of  mothers,  nurses,  and  school¬ 
masters,  to  instruct  them  properly  in  their  early  years ;  but 
as  soon  as  they  begin  to  understand  what  is  right  and  good, 
when  fear,  shame,  and  emulation  spring  up  in  their  minds, 
we  then  employ  them  in  studies  of  a  different  kind,  and  inure 
their  bodies  to  labour  bv  exercises  that  will  increase  their 
strength  and  vigour.  We  do  not  rest  content  with  that 
power  of  mind  and  body  which  nature  lias  endowed  them 
with,  but  endeavour  to  improve  it  by  education,  which 
renders  the  good  qualities  that  are  born  with  us  more  con¬ 
spicuous,  and  changes  the  bad  into  better;  following  the 
example  of  the  husbandman  who  shelters  and  hedges  round 
the  plant  whilst  it  is  low  and  tender,  but  when  it  has  gained 
strength  and  thickness  takes  away  the  unnecessary  support, 
and  by  leaving  it  open  to  the  wind  and  weather,  increases  its 

1  Ussing,  however,  seems  to  think  it  was. 

2  The  precise  distinction  between  the  palaestra  and  the  gymnasium  is  matter 
of  debate,  but  I  have  given  the  general  conclusion.  It  would  appear  that  in 
the  latter  period  of  Greek  history  the  distinction  was  not  observed  as  in  the 
earlier.  As  to  the  age  of  the  ephebus,  some  say  eighteen  and  some  seventeen, 
It  probably  varied. 


268 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


growth  and  fertility.  'W1  e  teach  them,  therefore,  first,  music 
and  arithmetic,  to  write  letters,  and  to  lead  aloud  cleaily  and 
distinctly  ;  as  they  grow  older,  we  give  the  maxims,  sayings, 
and  opinions  of  the  wise  men,  and  the  work  of  the  ancients, 
generally  in  verse,  as  easier  for  the  memory.  "When  they 
read  of  the  great  and  noble  actions  thus  recorded,  they  are 
struck  with  admiration,  and  a  desire  of  imitating  them, 
ambitious  of  being  themselves  distinguished,  admired,  and 
celebrated  by  the  poets  of  future  ages  as  their  predecessors 
were  by  Homer  and  Hesiod.’  (‘  Anacharsis.  ) 

Again,  in  Plato’s  ‘  Protagoras  ’  we  find  a  better  account  of 
the  training  of  the  young  Athenian  than  any  that  could  be 
constructed  by  the  collation  of  many  passages  from  Greek 
authors ;  and  from  it  we  shall  see  that  in  his  view  the  aim 
throughout  was  a  moral  one  —  an  aim  to  be  attained  through 
literature,  music,  and  gymnastic.  ‘  Education,’  he  says,  ‘  and 
admonition  commence  in  the  very  first  years  of  childhood,  and 
last  to  the  very  end  of  life.  Mother  and  nurse  and  father 
and  tutor  are  quarrelling  about  the  improvement  of  the 
child  as  soon  as  ever  he  is  able  to  understand  them ;  he 
cannot  say  or  do  anything  without  their  setting  forth  to  him 
that  this  is  just  and  that  is  unjust ;  that  this  is  honourable, 
this  is  dishonourable ;  this  is  holy,  that  is  unholy ;  do  this 
and  abstain  from  that.  And  if  he  obeys,  well  and  good,  if 
not,  he  is  straightened  by  threats  and  blows,  like  a  piece  of 
warped  wood.  At  a  later  stage  they  send  him  to  teachers 
and  enjoin  them  to  see  to  his  manners  even  more  than  to  his 
reading  and  music ;  and  the  teachers  do  as  they  are  desired. 
And  when  the  boy  has  learned  his  letters  and  is  beginning  to 
understand  what  is  written,  as  before  he  understood  only 
what  was  spoken,  they  put  into  his  hands  the  works  of 
great  poets,  which  he  reads  at  school ;  in  these  are  contained 
many  admonitions  and  many  tales,  and  praises  and  encomia 
of  ancient  and  famous  men,  which  he  is  required  to  learn  by 
heart,  in  order  that  he  may  imitate  and  emulate  them  and 
desire  to  become  like  them.  Then,  again,  the  teachers  of 
the  lyre  take  similar  care  that  their  young  disciple  is  steady 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  269 


and  gets  into  no  mischief ;  and  when  they  have  taught  him 
the  use  of  the  lyre,  they  introduce  him  to  the  works  of  other 
excellent  poets,  who  are  the  lyric  poets ;  and  these  they  set 
to  music,  and  make  their  harmonies  and  rhythms  quite 
familiar  to  the  children,  in  order  that  they  may  learn  to  be 
more  gentle  and  harmonious  and  rhythmical,  and  so  more 
fitted  for  speech  and  action  ;  for  the  life  of  man  in  every 
part  has  need  of  harmony  and  rhythm.  Then  they  send 
them  to  the  master  of  gymnastics,  in  order  that  their  bodies 
may  better  minister  to  the  virtuous  mind  and  that  the  weak¬ 
ness  of  their  bodies  may  not  force  them  to  play  the  coward 
in  war  or  on  any  other  occasion.  This  is  what  is  done  by 
those  who  have  the  means,  and  those  who  have  the  means 
are  the  rich.  Their  children  begin  education  soonest  and 
leave  off  latest.  When  they  have  done  with  masters,  the  state 
again  compels  them  to  learn  the  laws,  and  live  after  the 
pattern  which  they  furnish,  and  not  after  their  own  fancies ; 
and  just  as  in  learning  to  write,  the  writing-master  first  draws 
lines  with  a  stylus  for  the  use  of  the  young  beginner,  and 
gives  him  the  tablet  and  makes  him  follow  the  lines,  so  the 
city  draws  the  laws  which  were  the  invention  of  good  law¬ 
givers  which  were  of  old  time ;  these  are  given  to  the  young 
man  in  order  to  guide  him  in  his  conduct  whether  as  ruler 
or  ruled  ;  and  he  that  transgresses  them  is  to  be  corrected  or 
called  to  account,  which  is  a  term  used  not  only  in  your 
country,  but  in  many  others.’ 1 

According  to  Plato  and  Lucian,  then,  the  moral  training  of 
the  young  Athenian  was  never  lost  sight  of.  The  learning 
by  heart  of  noble  passages  from  the  poets  and  the  whole  of 
the  music-instruction  (in  its  narrower  sense)  had  the  ethical 
for  its  aim  in  the  large  sense  of  that  term,  including  aesthetic. 
Homer,  and  the  poets  generally,  were  (as  I  have  already 
said)  looked  upon  as  text-books  of  morality  and  wisdom. 

To  manners  also,  which  are  the  outward  expression  of 
good  feeling,  there  was  much  attention  paid  both  in  the 
family,  in  the  street,  and  in  the  school.  Grace  and  becom- 

1  Translation  taken  from  Mahaffy  on  Greek  education,  p,  37. 


270 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


ingness  of  manner  was  called  eukosmia ,  and  throughout  the 
whole  Hellenic  world  stood  side  by  side  with  the  other  two 
aims  of  education  —  sophrosyne  and  arete  :  —  this  threefold 
aim  being  pursued  by  means  of  a  training  in  music  and 
gymnastic.  But  in  the  boy  the  Greeks  did  not  expect  to  find 
this  harmonious,  self-balanced  life :  he  had  to  be  educated  to 
it.  The  chief  virtue  of  the  boy  was  reverence  for  his  elders, 
modesty  of  demeanour,  and  a  keen  susceptibility  to  praise 
and  blame. 

As  a  result  of  all  this,  we  find  that  not  only  a  penetrating 
and  active  intelligence,  but  also  grace  of  manner  and  refine¬ 
ment  of  speech  specially  distinguished  the  Athenian  Greek. 
Cicero  (‘ De  Orat.’  iii.  11)  refers  to  it,  and  particularly  men¬ 
tions  the  sound  of  the  voice  and  the  sweetness  of  speaking 
in  a  genuine  Athenian.  Even  down  to  the  time  of  Lucian 
we  have  evidence  of  the  existence  of  the  same  characteristics. 

We  naturally  ask  what  provision  was  made  for  religious 
education.  The  answer  is  that  by  the  worship  of  the  family 
gods,  by  the  civic  recognition  of  the  gods  in  religious  festivals, 
which  were  numerous  and  stately,  and  by  learning  and  sing¬ 
ing  religious  hymns  and  choruses  religion  was  inculcated. 
In  truth,  it  entered  in  a  pleasant  and  cheerful  way  into  the 
whole  life  of  the  boy  and  man  as  part  of  the  aesthetic  educa¬ 
tion  on  its  more  serious  side. 

(/)  Advanced  education 

The  ephebi.  —  The  higher  education  of  the  Greeks  centres 
in  the  gymnasium.  The  gymnasia  were  state-supported 
institutions ;  and,  in  addition  to  a  managing  president,  there 
was  a  moral  overseer  or  sophronist  and  many  subordinate 
officers.  The  ephebi  continued  to  frequent  them  regularly 
and  go  through  more  difficult  gymnastic  than  in  their  earlier 
years. 

Both  the  moral  and  gymnastic  training  may  be  said  to 
have  received  their  completion  in  the  service  in  the  militia 
(or  state-police)  (beginning  about  the  age  of  eighteen),  when 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  271 


among  other  duties  (especially  the  practice  of  gymnastic 
exercises),  the  youths  had  to  camp  out,  occupy  fortresses  and 
patrol  the  frontier  for  two  years.  There  were  certain  head¬ 
quarters  for  the  ephebic  companies,  viz.  Eleusis,  Sunium, 
Phyle,  &c.,  besides  forts.  It  was  a  military  service  and  was 
at  first  compulsory.  The  youths  were  liable  to  foreign  ser¬ 
vice  only  after  its  completion.  It  certainly,  for  manifest 
social  reasons,  must  have  been  a  great  burden  on  many 
classes  of  citizens,  and  in  the  later  days  —  those  of  the 
Macedonian  rule  (340  B.C.),  it  became  voluntary,  and  conse¬ 
quently  aristocratic.  Hunting  also  formed  part  of  the  occu¬ 
pation  of  the  epliebi. 

When  they  entered  on  this  ephebic  training  (also  as  we 
have  seen  practised  among  the  Spartans)  the  Athenian 
youths,  now  eighteen  years  of  age,  were  formally  admitted  to 
citizenship  before  the  assembled  citizens,  and  presented  with 
a  shield  and  spear.  They  took  the  following  oath  in  the 
temple  of  Athene  (Grasberger,  iii.  61):  ‘I  will  not  bring  dis¬ 
honour  to  these  holy  weapons,  and  will  not  desert  the  com¬ 
rade  who  stands  side  by  side  with  me,  whoever  he  may  be. 
For  the  holy  places  and  for  the  laws  I  will  fight  singly  and 
with  others.  I  will  leave  my  country  not  in  a  worse  but  in 
a  better  condition  by  sea  and  land  than  I  have  received  it. 
I  will  willingly  and  at  all  times  submit  to  the  judges  and  to 
the  established  ordinances,  also  not  allow  that  anyone  should 
infringe  thereon  or  not  give  due  obedience.  I  will  reverence 
the  ancestral  worship.  Let  the  gods  be  witnesses  of  this  !  ’ 1 
Their  names  were  now  entered  on  the  citizen-roll  of  the 
phratria  or  ward  to  which  they  belonged,  and  they  now  in  the 
fullest  sense  belonged  to  the  state. 

The  higher  education  of  the  Athenian  Greek  did  not  end 
here.  All  his  life  long  he  was  instructed  by  the  public 

1  There  are  slight  variations  both  of  the  words  and  translation  of  this  oath. 
I  give  what  seems  best.  Some  put  the  taking  of  this  oath  after  and  not  before 
the  ephebic  training.  There  can  be  little  doubt,  I  think,  that  it  was  taken  at 
about  the  age  of  eighteen,  even  before  the  word  ‘  ephebus  ’  as  a  specific  and 
technical  term  was  in  use. 


272 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


drama,  by  the  contentions  and  rivalries  of  civic  life,  by  the 
great  festivals,  which  were  frequent  and  stimulating,  in  which 
the  young  men  took  part  as  members  of  the  choral  bands,  by 
the  superabounding  development  of  native  art,  and  by  the 
public  literary  contests  which  began  at  an  early  date  in  their 
history  and  stirred  the  ambition  of  youths  while  moulding 
the  life  of  maturer  men.  The  civic  life,  above  all,  which 
often  stirred  questions  in  which  the  whole  of  the  Hellenic 
states  were  involved,  gave  a  daily  education  to  all  citizens. 
A  polity  is  an  education,  says  Plato. 

Whatever  might  be  disregarded,  gymnastic  was  never  for¬ 
gotten.  It  was  indeed  in  connection  with  the  gymnasia  that 
sophistical  and  philosophic  teaching  began,  in  the  later  half 
of  the  fifth  century  b.c.,  as  we  shall  shortly  see.  As  places 
of  common  resort  they  were  analogous  to  the  modern  club, 
but  they  combined  with  this  the  freedom  of  the  market-place 
and  the  attractions  of  a  public  park,  adorned  with  statues  of 
the  gods.  Stadia  sapientice ,  says  Quintilian,  speaking  of  the 
early  imperial  times  in  Rome,  xn.  ii.  8,  .  .  .  in  portions  et  gym¬ 
nasia  primum ,  mox  in  conventus  scholarum  recesserunt.  The 
Athenian  gymnasia  of  the  Academy  and  the  Lyceum  gave 
names  to  the  two  great  schools  of  Plato  and  Aristotle.  And, 
later,  the  philosophic  schools  were  themselves  sometimes 
called  gymnasia.1  In  the  next  chapter  we  shall  speak  further 
of  the  higher  intellectual  education. 

I  have  in  previous  chapters  brought  into  view  the  mean¬ 
ing  of  the  gymnastic  training  of  boys ;  as  regards  young 
men,  the  purpose  was  substantially  identical.  I  may  quote 
with  advantage  the  words  of  Lucian :  ‘We  teach  them  like¬ 
wise  to  run  races,  which  makes  them  swift  of  foot  and  pre¬ 
vents  their  being  out  of  breath ;  the  course,  moreover,  is  not 
on  solid  ground,  but  in  a  deep  sand,  where  the  foot  can 
never  be  firm,  but  slips  away  from  beneath  them ;  we  ex¬ 
ercise  them  likewise  in  leaping  over  ditches  with  leaden 
weights  in  their  hands,  and  teach  them  to  throw  darts  at 

1  Hence  in  modern  times  in  Germany  (and  occasionally  in  mediseval  times) 
a  gymnasium  is  the  designation  of  a  higher  school. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  273 

a  great  distance.  You  must  have  seen  also  in  tlie  gym¬ 
nasium  a  brass  thing  like  a  small  shield,  round  and  without 
a  handle  or  strings ;  you  took  one  up,  I  remember,  and 
thought  it  very  heavy,  and  so  smooth  that  you  could  not 
hold  it:  this  they  throw  up  into  the  air,  or  straight  for¬ 
wards,  contending  who  shall  cast  it  farthest ;  this  strengthens 
the  shoulders  and  gives  the  limbs  their  full  power  and 
agility.  As  to  the  dust  and  dirt,  which  seemed  to  you  so 
ridiculous,  I  will  tell  you  why  we  have  so  much  of  it ;  in 
the  first  place,  we  do  it  that  the  combatants  may  not  hurt 
themselves  on  the  ground,  but  fall  soft  and  without  danger ; 
and  secondly,  because,  when  they  grow  wet  in  the  mud  and 
look  like  so  many  eels,  as  you  called  them,  it  lubricates 
the  limbs.  It  is  therefore  neither  useless  nor  ridiculous, 
but  promotes  strength  and  agility  by  obliging  them  to  hold 
one  another  with  all  their  might,  to  prevent  their  slipping 
away :  add  to  this,  that  to  lift  up  a  man  who  is  anointed 
with  oil  and  rolled  in  the  mud  is  not  easy.  Thus  do  we 
exercise  our  youth,  hoping  by  these  means  to  render  them 
the  guardians  of  our  city  and  supporters  of  the  commonweal, 
that  they  will  defend  our  liberties,  conquer  our  enemies,  and 
make  us  feared  and  respected  by  all  around  us :  in  peace 
they  become  better  subjects,  are  above  anything  that  is 
base,  and  do  not  run  into  vice  and  debauchery  from  idle¬ 
ness,  but  spend  their  leisure  in  these  useful  employments. 
Our  young  men  are  thus  prepared  for  peace  and  war/  And 
again  elsewhere:  ‘Out  of  the  gymnastic  struggles  another 
more  noble  contention  springs  amongst  all  the  members  of 
the  community,  and  a  crown  is  bestowed,  not  of  pine,  of 
olive,  or  of  parsley,  but  one  with  which  is  wreathed  public 
happiness  and  private  liberty,  the  ancient  rites  and  cere¬ 
monies,  the  wealth,  honour,  and  glory  of  our  country,  the 
safety  of  every  man’s  property,  with  every  good  and  noble 
gift  we  wish  from  the  gods.  With  that  crown  these  are 
all  inwoven,  and  to  this  all  our  toils  and  labours  lead.’  We 
have  hitherto  been  speaking  of  the  period  up  to  about  the 

middle  of  the  fifth  century  b.c.  Up  to  that  date  there  is 

18 


274 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


no  evidence  that  the  higher  education  involved  abstract 
study  of  any  kind  except  for  a  few  of  a  philosophic  turn 
of  mind.  The  higher  education  was  gymnastic,  in  so  far 
as  it  was  compulsory. 

A  retrospect  will  satisfy  us  that  neither  in  school  nor 
during  the  ephebic  period  had  the  Athenian  a  hard  time. 
In  the  school  up  to  the  date  given  above  there  was  not 
even  geometry,  geography,  or  drawing.  Music,  literature, 
and  gymnastic  summed  up  his  education.  The  life  both 
of  the  boy  and  the  youth  was  easy,  and  by  the  help  of  the 
slave-system  which  relieved  citizens  from  sordid  material 
claims  on  their  energies,  the  young  were  able  to  live  a 
more  unencumbered  life  than  was,  perhaps,  altogether  good 
for  them.  It  was,  however,  always  life ;  and  owing  to  the 
peculiar  genius  of  the  people,  a  life  full  of  interest  and 
freshness,  and  of  intellectual  as  well  as  bodily  activity. 

(y)  School  and  home-discijpline 

The  school  discipline  was  severe.  The  rod  was  freely 
used  both  in  the  literary,  music,  and  gymnastic  training.  It 
is  not  till  the  times  of  Seneca  and  Quintilian,  so  far  as  I 
know,  that  we  find  any  protest  against  corporal  chastisement, 
unless  we  take  the  remark  of  Plato,  ‘  Pep.’  vii.  536,  as  such  a 
protest :  —  ‘  In  the  case  of  the  mind,  no  study  pursued  under 
compulsion  remains  rooted  in  the  memory.  Hence  you  must 
train  children  to  their  studies  in  a  playful  manner  and  with¬ 
out  any  air  of  constraint.’ 1  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that 
even  after  Seneca  and  Quintilian  the  severity  of  punishment 
was  lessened.  The  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  after  them 
Christian  teachers  throughout  the  middle  ages  and  down  to 
very  recent  times,  associated  teaching  with  flogging  as  a 
kind  of  inevitable  necessity. 

But  I  commend  this  to  general  attention,  that  school¬ 
masters  were  held  of  small  account.  Nor  do  I  believe  it 
possible  that,  while  this  class  of  the  community  is  fitly  repre- 


1  Locke  uses  words  almost  identical. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  275 


sented  as  holding  a  book  in  one  hand  and  a  cane  in  the  other, 
it  can  ever  stand  high  in  social  estimation.  It  is  only  when 
we  find  in  teachers  of  youth  a  high  conception  of  their  social 
function  as  essentially  a  spiritual  function,  that  the  rod  will 
be  regarded  as  degrading  (to  the  teacher,  not  to  the  boy)  and 
the  community  begin  to  accord  to  schoolmasters  that  respect 
which  then,  but  only  then,  will  rightfully  belong  to  them. 
And  why  ?  Because  then,  and  only  then,  will  they  work  for 
the  intellect  through  the  intellect,  for  the  moral  nature 
through  the  moral  nature.  A  resort  to  physical  force  is  to 
be  regarded  as  a  sign  of  weakness  in  the  educator,  save  in 
very  extreme  cases  and  after  much  deliberation. 

The  domestic  discipline  was  more  severe  than  we  should 
have  expected  from  the  general  character  of  the  Athenians ; 
but  it  is  an  additional  confirmation  of  the  importance  they 
attached  to  moral  training.  Sandals  or  slippers  were  used  for 
personal  castigation.  Strict  attention  was  paid  to  the  little 
acts  of  life,  such  as  the  manner  of  sitting  at  table  and  of  eat¬ 
ing.  The  manner  of  taking  salt  and  bread  was  regulated. 
Even  when  the  boys  had  reached  their  eighteenth  year  they 
were  held  under  strict  subordination  to  their  parents,  and 
their  demeanour  in  the  streets  was  prescribed.  Modesty  of 
demeanour,  respect  to  older  men,  and  a  general  becomingness 
of  conduct  was  strictly  imposed,  not  only  on  boys  but  young 
men.  Both  at  home  and  at  school  and  in  the  palaestra,  the 
rod  was  freely  used.  A  verse  of  Menander  is  to  the  effect 
that  a  youth  who  has  not  been  flogged  has  not  been 
educated. 


(7i)  Education  of  the  women 

The  women  had  no  school  education.  It  was  wholly 
domestic.  The  room  in  which  they  and  their  children  lived 
was  generally  on  the  upper  floor,  to  which  they  were  mostly 
confined,  except  on  great  festival  occasions.  There  would  of 
course  be  necessarily  more  freedom  of  life  among  the  poorer 
classes  ;  but  less  education.  At  popular  festivals  the  maidens 


276 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


walked  in  procession  and  danced  choral  dances.1  On  other 
occasions  the  girls  were  confined  to  the  house,  and  therefore 
the  Athenian  women  were  for  the  most  part  slender  and 
pale.  The  mother  gave  them  instruction  in  all  feminine 
occupations,  in  spinning,  sewing,  weaving,  knitting,  &c. 
They  sometimes  learned  a  little  reading  and  writing  from 
their  mothers,  and  also  singing  and  playing  on  the  lyre. 
‘  Special  emphasis/  says  Schmidt,  ‘  was  in  the  case  of  the 
girl  laid  on  moral  training  :  propriety  of  conduct,  chastity  and 
purity,  were  the  most  beautiful  womanly  virtues,  and  domes¬ 
tic  thrift,  as  well  as  judicious  management  of  the  household, 
the  finest  womanly  qualities.’  Woman  accordingly  had  not 
that  social  and  political  influence  in  Athens  which  she  had 
in  Sparta.  Her  position  was  little  better  than  that  of  an 
Oriental  wife.  Marriages  were  contracts  arranged  by  parents. 
The  wife  had  no  part  even  in  social  entertainments.  When 
her  husband  had  guests  she  was  not  allowed  to  be  present  at 
the  dinner  which  she  had  herself  prepared. 

( i )  Method.  The  schoolmaster.  Holidays.  School-houses 

Method. — Modes  of  procedure  have  been  occasionally 
adverted  to  above  in  their  proper  place.  As  regards  method 
generally,  there  was  none  consciously  thought  out.  The 
teacher  pointed  to  a  letter  and  named  it  and  the  boy  named 
it  after  him.  He  recited  pieces  of  poetry  line  by  line  to  the 
boy,  and  they  were  repeated  until  they  had  been  acquired  — 
later,  pieces  were  written  down  by  the  teacher  and  copied  by 
the  pupil.  The  whole  process  was  essentially  a  telling  on 
one  side  and  learning  by  heart  on  the  other ;  but  explana¬ 
tions  were  always  given  and  asked.  When  manuscripts 
became  more  common  the  master’s  work  would  of  course  be 
lightened  and  the  boy’s  independent  activity  stimulated. 

i  At  tlie  so-called  bear- festival,  says  Schmidt  (Brauronia)  girls  between 
five  and  ten  years  of  age  were  every  five  years  consecrated  to  Artemis, 
while  sacrifices  were  offered  and  a  passage  from  the  Iliad  read  —  a  con¬ 
secration  which  was  meant  to  be  the  symbolic  commemoration  of  a  pure 
virginity. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  277 


There  were  no  home  lessons.  Everything  was  done  in  school. 
Any  fairly  educated  Greek  could  teach  on  these  terms  who 
had  the  necessary  patience.  I  have  already  said  that,  so  far 
as  we  can  learn,  the  pupils  came  up  in  turn  to  say  their  les¬ 
son  to  the  master.  Questions  of  classification  and  school 
organisation  had  not  arisen.  It  is  impossible  to  doubt,  how¬ 
ever,  that  pieces  of  poetry  were  learned  collectively,  as  were 
the  alphabet  and  the  multiplication  table,  to  a  kind  of 
monotonous  chant. 

On  a  vase  (about  the  date  of  the  Peloponnesian  War  and 
now  in  the  Berlin  Museum)  we  have  an  interior  view  of  a 
schoolroom :  and  a  young  man  is  correcting  the  written 
exercise  of  a  boy,  another  instructs  the  boys  in  flute-playing, 
a  third  gives  instruction  in  the  cithara,  while  a  boy  recites 
poetry  to  his  teacher. 

The  Schoolmaster.  —  The  day-school  master  did  not 
take  a  high  position.  Demosthenes  taunts  his  great  rival 
with  having  had  to  help  his  father  to  clean  out  the  school 
when  he  was  a  boy,  and  evidently  regards  the  work  of  a 
primary  teacher  as  a  very  humble  one  indeed.  ‘  As  a  boy,’ 
he  says  (‘De  Corona,’  258),  ‘you  were  reared  in  abject  pov¬ 
erty,  waiting  with  your  father  on  the  school,  grinding  the 
ink,  sponging  the  benches,  sweeping  the  room,  doing  the 
duty  of  a  menial  rather  than  of  a  freeman’s  son.’  There  was 
no  public  qualification  for  the  office  of  schoolmaster,  and 
hence,  chiefly,  the  low  social  status.  It  was  the  refuge  of  the 
distressed.  There  was  a  proverbial  saying  applied  to  a  man 
who  had  disappeared :  ‘  he  is  either  dead  or  become  a  primary 
schoolmaster.’  Lucian,  long  after  the  palmy  days  of  Athe¬ 
nian  education,  condemns  tyrants  sent  to  the  nether  world 
to  be  beggars  or  primary  schoolmasters.  Dionysius  the 
tyrant  taught  an  elementary  school  at  Corinth,  and  this  is 
mentioned  as  an  illustration  of  how  low  a  man  might  fall. 
Accordingly,  it  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  the  aim  which  the 
Athenian  mind  had  more  or  less  consciously  before  it  in  the 
education  of  the  young  was  effectually  carried  out  in  the 
schools.  The  aim  and  general  method  we  know  —  the  re- 


278 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


suits  were  doubtless  often  disappointing.  The  family  and 
the  state  were  after  all  the  chief  educators. 

Fees  were  paid  for  instruction,  and  hence  partly  the  low 
estimation  in  which  the  teacher  was  held,  for  the  Greek  mind 
looked  on  paid  intellectual  work  as  casting  discredit  on  the 
recipient ;  at  least  till  after  the  time  of  the  sophists. 

It  is  only  when  the  state  takes  up  education  as  a  national 
concern  that  teachers  receive  proper  remuneration,  and  only 
when  they  are  professionally  trained  that  they  have  any 
status  whatsoever.  It  appears  from  an  inscription  that  at  Teos 
there  was  an  endowment  for  a  staff  of  teachers  in  the  third 
century  b.c.1  This  endowment  provided  for  girls  as  well  as 
hoys.  Only  the  children  of  those  who  fell  in  battle  were 
educated  at  the  expense  of  the  state. 

Holidays.  —  School  holidays  and  festivals  are  frequently 
referred  to  by  the  ancients.  And  when  we  add  to  these  the 
public  festivals,  to  which  the  Athenians  were  much  addicted, 
we  may  conclude  that  the  Athenian  boy  had  an  easy  time  of  it. 

School  Houses.  —  The  school-buildings  were  not  of  state 
origin.  The  literary,  musical,  and  gymnastic  Teaching  of 
boys  was  all  given  in  the  houses  or  rooms  provided  by  the 
adventure  teachers.  The  gymnasia  for  the  ephebi  and  grown 
men  were,  however,  provided  at  the  public  expense.  These 
were  large  enclosures  planted  with  trees  and  adorned  with 
gardens  and  shrubberies,  monuments,  temples,  fountains,  &c. 
All  Greek  towns  were  provided  with  them.  In  the  fifth  cen¬ 
tury  B.c.  there  were  three,  the  Academy,  the  Cynosarges,  and 
the  Lyceum.  They  served,  as  I  have  already  said,  the  pur¬ 
poses  of  modern  clubs  as  well  as  exercising  grounds,  and  also 
in  the  course  of  time  they  were  the  centres  of  schools  of 
philosophy  and  rhetoric. 

5.  CONTRAST  BETWEEN  ATHENIAN  AND  SPARTAN  EDUCATION 

The  education  of  the  Hellene  generally  was  an  education, 
as  we  have  seen,  in  gymnastic  and  music  —  music  compre- 


1  See  Girard,  V Education  Athenienne,  witli  references. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  279 


hending  literary  and  moral  training  as  well  as  music  in  its 
narrower  sense.  In  gymnastic,  including  the  training  to 
physical  endurance  generally,  the  Spartan  was  much  more 
exacting  than  the  Athenian.  The  Athenian  aimed  at  the 
perfect  development  of  the  body  and  the  maintenance  of 
health ;  the  Spartan  at  making  the  body  serviceable  for  the 
hardest  tasks  that  could  be  imposed  on  it.  Both,  however, 
had  in  view  the  moral  control  to  which  good  gymnastic 
training  contributes.1  Neither  the  Spartan  nor  Athenian 
gymnastic,  however,  is  to  be  compared  with  our  modern 
British  training  by  means  of  organised  play.  In  our  games 
both  physical  and  moral  ends  are  gained  in  a  way  which 
was,  I  believe,  quite  beyond  the  reach  of  the  Greek  system, 
and  which  almost  fulfils  Plato’s  conception  of  gymnastic  as 
an  education. 

In  music,  again,  the  Spartan,  as  we  have  seen,  was  edu¬ 
cated,  but  only  in  the  narrow  and  modern  sense  of  the  word 
music.  Beligious  and  national  chants,  metrical  laws,  choral 
songs,  and  heroic  ballads  were,  however,  taught,  and  indeed 
largely  practised.  The  Athenian  did  all  this,  but,  over  and 
above,  he  acquired  skill  on  a  musical  instrument,  and  he 
carried  out  musical  education  in  its  larger  and  literary  sense 
of  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic.  The  study  of  the  national 
literature  and  the  cultivation  of  literary  taste  by  school  reci¬ 
tations  and  by  the  public  drama,  were  all  attended  to.  The 
chief  instrument  in  the  education  of  mind  among  the  Athe¬ 
nians,  was  in  brief,  literature ;  and  this  chiefly  in  the  form 
of  poetry.  The  Athenian  education  was  (to  use  a  modern 
expression)  wholly  humanistic,  and  yet  it  had  a  very  direct 
connection  with  the  intellectual  life  of  the  boy  when  he  be¬ 
came  a  fully-grown  man.  The  Spartan  education  was  ethical 
(in  a  very  narrow  sense)  and  conservative,  resting  on  law 
and  custom  as  sacred,  and  admitting  of  no  development. 

The  Spartan  had  a  restricted  definite  and  civic  aim ;  the 
Athenian’s  aim,  though  never  losing  sight  of  the  state,  was 

1  The  Boeotians,  again,  carried  gymnastic  into  athletics  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  he  hurtful  to  the  bodily  growth. 


280 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


broad  as  humanity  itself.  Reading  and  writing,  in  so  far 
as  they  existed  at  Sparta,  were  esteemed  only  in  so  far  as 
they  were  ‘  useful.’  The  Athenian  view,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  well  expressed  in  the  already  cited  remark  of  Aristotle  : 
‘  To  be  always  in  search  of  the  useful  by  no  means  befits 
men  who  are  magnanimous  and  who  are  freemen.’  ‘  Give 
the  fellow  half  a  drachma,  and  let  him  be  gone,’  called  out 
Euclid  to  his  slave,  when  a  pupil  asked  what  advantage  he 
would  gain  by  mathematical  study.  To  pursue  even  music 
with  a  view  to  being  an  expert  and  turning  it  to  use,  and  not 
in  the  interests  of  a  liberal  education,  was  banausian.  The 
Spartan  trained  the  citizen  :  the  Athenian  trained  the  man. 
Hence  in  all  the  arts  which  adorn  human  life  the  Athenians 
were  great.  They  are  still  the  masters  of  the  modern  world. 
After  the  school  period  was  over,  the  education  of  the  citizen 
went  on,  for  it  was  a  mere  continuation  of  the  work  of  the 
school.  The  drama,  sculpture,  architecture,  painting,  sur¬ 
rounded  daily  life  with  the  noblest  ideals.  ‘  We  carry  them,’ 
says  Lucian  in  his  ‘  Anacharsis,’  ‘  to  comedies  and  tragedies  at 
our  theatres,  that  whilst  they  behold  the  virtues  and  vices  of 
past  times,  they  may  themselves  be  attached  to  the  one  and 
avoid  the  other ;  permitting  our  comic  writers  to  expose  and 
ridicule  the  citizens ;  and  this  we  do,  as  well  for  their  sakes 
who  may  grow  better  by  seeing  themselves  laughed  at,  as 
for  that  of  the  spectators  in  general  who  may  thus  escape 
being  ridiculed  for  the  like  absurdities.’  Thus  was  Athens 
throughout  the  life  of  each  man  a  perpetual  school  in  the 
best  sense  of  that  word,  and  not  in  the  Spartan  one.  In  the 
speech  of  Pericles,  part  of  which  we  quoted  in  the  first  chap¬ 
ter,  he  is  constantly  contrasting  Athens  and  Sparta,  and  the 
contrast  in  their  lives  we  see  repeated  in  their  processes  of 
education. 

Note  further,  that  the  Athenian  system  was  a  free  and 
voluntary  system,  the  state  merely  supervising  and  laying 
down  general  rules,  while  carefully  guarding  the  morals  of 
the  palaestra  and  gymnasium.  In  the  laws  ascribed  to  Solon 
are  found  injunctions  to  all  parents  to  educate  their  children, 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  281 


and  also  certain  rules  for  the  schools,  but  these  are  all  of  a 
merely  regulative  character.  In  Sparta,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  system  was  a  state  system  —  compulsory  and  gratuitous. 
Herein  lies,  partially,  the  explanation  of  its  being  so  liardfast 
and  inelastic.  All  were  cast  in  one  mould.  So  must  it 
always  be  with  over-centralised  administration.  This  has 
always  to  be  resisted  by  a  country  which  prizes  freedom  and 
variety  of  culture. 

Sparta,  quite  consistently  with  its  theory  of  life  and  edu¬ 
cation,  took  possession  of  the  young  citizen  at  the  age  of 
seven ; 1  Athens,  only  at  the  ephebic  age  of  eighteen. 

Again,  in  Athens  we  have  professional  schoolmasters ; 
whereas  in  Sparta  worthy  citizens  supervise  the  education 
of  youth. 

When  we  reflect  on  the  past  historical  survey,  we  cannot 
but  be  deeply  impressed  by  the  contrast  of  East  and  West. 
Among  the  Hellenic  races  we  first  find  ourselves  in  the  cur- 
rent  of  a  life  with  higher  aims,  both  national  and  individual, 
than  any  we  had  previously  encountered.  Here,  first,  we 
find  a  people  living  under  political  conditions  which  favoured 
individual  culture,  intellectual  activity,  and  personal  ambi¬ 
tion.  *  We  breathe  the  atmosphere  of  liberty  —  an  atmo¬ 
sphere  essential  to  the  life  of  mind.  We  also  find  a  religion 
which,  spite  of  the  traditionary  popular  tales  about  the  gods, 
was  an  aesthetic  idealism  and  intensely  human.  But  it  is  a 
superficial  conclusion  that  favourable  conditions  made  the 
Greeks :  the  political  and  social  conditions  were  themselves 
*  part  of  the  expression  of  the  Hellenic  spirit.  Let  me  add  that, 
for  the  maintenance  of  this  spirit,  they  relied  on  the  proper 
upbringing  of  youth.  In  nothing  were  Greek  writers  more  at 
one  than  on  the  necessity  of  the  education  of  the  young  with 
a  view  to  a  life  worth  living  and  to  the  security  of  the  state. 

I  have  endeavoured  to  place  before  the  reader  the  dis¬ 
tinctive  characteristics  of  the  education  of  the  two  great 

1  Nay,  earlier,  for  it  was  the  elders  who  determined  whether  a  babe  was  to 
live,  not  the  father. 


232 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Hellenic  types.  It  has  only  now  to  be  noted  that,  after 
the  death  of  Alexander  the  Great,  Hellenic  education  all 
round  the  Mediterranean  had  in  ore  characteristics  in  com¬ 
mon  than  in  earlier  times.  The  Ionic-Attic  idea  governed, 
although  at  Sparta  many  of  the  old  customs  survived  for 
long  after,  and  into  Christian  times. 

I  have  been  exhibiting  the  general  aim  and  current  of 
Hellenic  education.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  guard  the 
reader  against  concluding  that,  always  and  everywhere  in 
the  Hellenic  cities,  this  aim  was  consciously  pursued,  or  that, 
even  in  the  most  favourable  circumstances,  it  was  fully 
realised.  Even  in  the  golden  age  of  Socrates,  we  have  com¬ 
plaints  of  a  degeneracy  from  a  level  of  education  which  was 
probably  never  reached.  The  well-known  locus  classicus  in 
the  ‘  Clouds  ’  of  Aristophanes  gives  expression  to  these 
complaints,  but  we  ought  never  to  attach  too  much  histori¬ 
cal  importance  to  the  criticisms  of  professed  satirists  or 
humourists. 

‘  I  prepare,  ’  he  says,  i  myself  to  speak 
Of  manners  primitive  and  that  good  time 
Which  I  have  seen,  when  discipline  prevailed, 

And  modesty  was  sanctioned  by  the  laws. 

No  babbling  then  was  suffered  in  the  school ; 

The  scholar’s  text  was  silence.  The  whole  group 

In  orderly  procession  sallied  forth 

Right  onwards,  without  straggling,  to  attend 

Their  teacher  in  harmonics  :  though  the  snow 

Fell  on  them  thick  as  meal,  the  hardy  brood 

Breasted  the  storm  uncloaked.  Their  harps  were  strung 

Not  to  ignoble  strains,  for  they  were  taught 

A  loftier  key,  whether  to  chant  the  name 

Of  Pallas  terrible  amidst  the  blaze 

Of  cities  overthrown  ;  or  wide  and  far  to  spread, 

As  custom  was,  the  echoing  peal.’ 

I  shall  now  speak  briefly  of  the  higher  education  of  the 
few  in  the  fifth  century  b.c.  and  thereafter. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  283 


CHAPTEB  Y 

THE  HIGHER  EDUCATION  IN  THE  FIFTH  CENTURY  B.C. 

AND  THEREAFTER 

We  have  seen  that  the  Athenian  youth  and  boy  had,  so  far 
as  school  instruction,  primary,  secondary,  or  higher  was  con¬ 
cerned,  an  easy  time  of  it  up  to  the  middle  of  the  fifth  cen¬ 
tury  b.c.  And,  as  historians  of  education,  we  have  to  note 
the  fact  that  Greece  was  within  sight  of  the  highest  pinnacle 
of  its  fame  in  arts  and  arms  before  school  instruction  took  a 
more  serious  form.  In  Epic,  Elegiac,  Lyric,  and  Tragic 
Dramatic  poetry,  all  the  greatest  work  had  been  done  before 
450  B.C.,  and  in  the  subsequent  sixty  years  philosophy,  his¬ 
tory,  and  even  oratory  and  comedy,  had  given  many,  if  not 
most,  of  their  greatest  examples  to  the  world. 

From,  let  us  say,  460  b.c.,  we  can  detect  the  beginnings  of 
what  we  call  the  ‘higher’  education,  and  this  has  of  course 
to  be  connected  with  the  life  of  the  ephebi.  But  first  we 
have  to  consider  the  historical  situation. 

As  Athens  and  the  other  active  Hellenic  centres  pro¬ 
gressed  in  material  civilisation  and  in  democratic  forms  of 
government,  the  number  of  young  men  of  the  leisured 
classes  who  desired  an  outlet  for  their  activity  in  political 
life  and  were  ready  to  interest  themselves  in  all  softs  of 
questions,  largely  increased.  Improved  facilities  of  com¬ 
munication  among  Greek  states  and  the  multiplication  of 
political  and  colonial  relations  contributed  also  to  the 
enhancement  of  public  life,  especially  after  the  Persian 
wars,  which  ended  479  B.c.  We  had  now  the  beginnings 
of  what  is  called  the  Athenian  empire.  It  seemed  to  have 
been  instinctively  felt  that  the  chances  of  success  in  public 
life,  now  so  much  enlarged  and  so  much  more  exacting, 
demanded  more  intellectual  preparation  than  heretofore. 


284 


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The  schools  of  abstract  philosophy  had  as  yet  engaged  the 
attention  of  only  a  select  few,  and,  moreover,  did  not  meet 
the  practical  wants  of  the  time. 

When  we  consider  the  cosmopolitan  view  of  life  and 
politics  forced  on  the  Greeks  by  their  warlike  encounters 
with  both  East  and  West  and  the  wide  ramification  of 
their  commercial  relations,  the  rise  of  a  spirit  of  inquiry 
and  of  criticism  of  existing  institutions  and  their  basis  in 
reason  was  not  surprising.  The  new  intellectual  movement 
sought  for  satisfaction.  And  this,  quite  apart  from  the 
growing  conviction  that,  with  the  increased  importance  of 
the  democracy  came  a  demand  on  those  who  would  succeed 
in  political  life  to  study  both  politics  and  oratory.1 

Cotemporaneously  with  the  rise  of  this  new  intellectual 
and  political  movement,  there  arose  in  the  Hellenic  states 
teachers  who  professed  to  give  all  the  instruction  needed 
for  guidance  in  public  life.  These  men  (called  sophists, 
the  chief  of  whom  were  Protagoras,  Gorgias,  and  Prodicus), 
taking  up  their  quarters  first  in  one  town  and  then  in 
another,  offered  their  intellectual  wares  for  sale,  and  thus 
incurred  the  contempt  of  the  pure  philosophers  who  held 
that  wisdom  was  to  be  neither  bought  nor  sold.  They 
were,  however,  a  necessity  of  the  time.  They  met  the  politi¬ 
cal  and  educational  demands  of  the  age. 

The  sophists  also  represented,  and  to  some  extent  satis¬ 
fied,  the  critical  needs  of  the  time.  As  in  the  case  of  all 
other  ancient  nations,  it  is  difficult  to  show  how  the  beliefs, 
religious,  ethical,  and  political,  by  which  the  Hellenic  com¬ 
munities  were  held  together,  grew  up.  They  passed  down 
through  the  state  (sometimes  aided  by  a  separate  priesthood 
who  consecrated  and  developed  tradition)  and  the  family, 
not  as  the  product  of  deliberate  scientific  investigation,  but 

1  As  long  as  MSS.  were  scarce,  speaking  before  public  assemblies  was  the 
only  mode  of  communication  with  the  people.  Rolls  were  for  sale  in  shops 
before  the  time  of  Plato.  There  was,  however,  no  public  library  in  Athens 
till  the  Emperor  Hadrian  founded  one.  The  Alexandrian  library  was 
founded  in  323  b.c.  by  Ptolemy  Soter :  an  example  afterwards  imitated  by 
the  kings  of  Pergamus. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  285 


as  the  authoritative  voice  of  a  remote  antiquity.  Nations 
held  fast  by  their  fathers  and  their  gods  —  who  were  the 
gods  of  their  fathers  —  and  clung  to  these  with  an  unques¬ 
tioning  tenacity  as  if  they  alone  protected  their  political 
life  from  dissolution.  The  day  of  scepticism  and  reason 
ultimately  arrives  for  all  such  authoritative  teaching,  with 
what  final  result  to  the  faith  of  man  and  the  interpretation 
of  human  life,  individual  and  social,  we  do  not  even  yet 
know.  The  Hellenic  races,  brilliant  as  they  were,  formed 
no  exception  to  this  general  law  of  life  and  progress.  The 
sophistical  movement  was  a  revolt  against  authority  and 
convention,  but  as  a  revolt  it  served  its  purpose  by  pro¬ 
claiming  the  rights  of  reason. 

The  leading  sophists  had  unquestionably  studied  the 
systems  of  philosophy  which  had  come  down  to  them,  and 
were  men  of  culture ;  but  the  abstract  speculative  interest 
seemed  to  them  to  yield  little  that  told  on  the  immediate 
human  interest.  They  accordingly  offered  to  their  eager 
pupils  a  kind  of  philosophy  of  practical  life,  superficial 
it  might  be,  hut  still  having  intelligible  relations  to  the 
world  of  political  activity  on  which  they  were  entering 
with  all  the  ardent  ambition  of  youth.  Along  with  this, 
they  also  frequently  gave  scientific  instruction  in  all  the 
knowledge  of  the  time.  The  more  aspiring  young  men  of 
the  upper  classes  eagerly  sought  for  these  instructors  be¬ 
cause  they  professed  to  give,  and  did,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
give,  a  rational  though  doubtless  superficial,  view  of  life  in 
all  its  relations  which  could  be  turned  to  immediate  use. 
They  obtained  all  the  general  knowledge  they  wanted  from 
the  grammatical,  physical,  and  moral  discussions  of  the 
peripatetic  lecturers ;  but  they  prized  above  all  their  defi¬ 
nite  political  instruction  and  their  art  of  rhetoric.  Bhetoric 
had  now  become  a  theory  as  well  as  an  art,  and  in  the 
course  of  time  unfolded  itself  as  a  system  so  detailed  and 
so  encumbered  with  technical  details  as  to  be,  to  the  modern 
mind,  intolerable.  Still,  with  all  its  superficiality  and  de¬ 
fects  and  formalism,  the  teaching  of  the  sophists  supplied 


286 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


a  want  and  gave  the  only  higher  education  which  then 
existed,  or  was,  perhaps,  then  practicable. 

That  the  name  ‘  sophist  ’  did  not,  as  time  went  on  and  as 
rhetorical  theory  was  dignified  by  the  more  earnest  treatment 
of  Isocrates,  call  forth  contempt,  is  evident  from  the  fact 
that  the  designation  was  almost  universally  applied  to  the 
higher  teachers,  whether  they  included  philosophy  in  their 
course  or  confined  themselves,  as  was  the  general  rule,  to 
superficial  science  and  a  practical  oratory. 

It  was  inevitable,  under  a  system  of  free  learning  and  free 
teaching  such  as  existed  in  Athens  and  the  Greek  world 
generally,  that  evils  should  arise.  Numbers  of  pretenders 
offered  to  give  young  men  a  rapid  preparation  for  oratory  and 
consequent  success  in  life.  These  men  gave  their  pupils  the 
ready-made  results  of  knowledge,  and  not  training.  Dia¬ 
logues  and  speeches  were  learned  by  heart,  and  youths 
taught  to  believe  that  a  superficial  acquaintance  with  the 
commonplaces  of  science  —  political  and  other  —  a  ceYtain 
command  of  the  technique  of  oratory  and  the  attainment  of 
a  certain  verbal  fluency,  constituted  education.  But  we 
know  that  there  were  many  sophists  who  took  a  more 
serious  view  of  their  profession.  Thus  were  brought  within 
the  sphere  of  the  higher  education  all  the  leisured  youth  of 
the  country,  who  aimed  at  public  life  in  some  form  or  other 
and  for  whom  abstract  philosophy  had  no  attractions.  And 
let  us  remember  that  public  life  under  ancient  conditions 
comprised  many  possible  occupations :  an  advocate  in  the 
courts,  a  political  speaker,  including  in  this  the  whole  func¬ 
tion  of  the  modern  journalist  and  pamphleteer,  and  all  legis¬ 
lative  and  administrative  employments.  Apart,  however, 
from  these  special  practical  aims,  the  higher  education  under 
sophists  of  good  reputation  had  a  liberalising  character. 
Speaking  500  years  after  the  death  of  Isocrates,  Lucian  in 
his  £  Anacharsis  ’  says,  ‘  We  commit  our  youth  to  certain 
good  and  approved  masters,  who  are  called  sophists  or  philos¬ 
ophers  ’  (the  designation  sophist  was  frequently  used  in¬ 
stead  of  philosopher  in  Lucian’s  time,  2nd  century  a.d.),  ‘by 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  287 


whom  they  are  taught  both  to  say  and  to  do  what  is  right 
and  just,  to  attend  to  and  assist  the  commonweal,  to  live 
honestly,  never  to  seek  after  what  is  base  and  unworthy,  or 
to  commit  violence  on  any  man.’  The  advanced  instruction 
was  indeed  ethical  and  political,  in  so  far  as  it  was  not 
purely  rhetorical. 

Meanwhile,  the  philosophical  schools  which  in  the  fourth 
century  held  the  tradition  of  earnest  scientific  inquiry  for  the 
sake  of  truth  alone,  gave  a  profounder  discipline :  but  the 
youth  of  the  country,  down  even  to  the  close  of  classical  an¬ 
tiquity,  unquestionably  regarded  rhetoric  and  oratory  as  the 
main  end  of  all  their  studies,  to  which  philosophy  was  only 
contributory.  The  outcome  of  the  whole  was,  that  in  the 
fourth  century  the  higher  or  ‘  university  ’  education  com¬ 
prised,  for  those  who  desired  it,  philosophy,  which  took  a 
wide  range,  politics,  and  rhetoric.  For  the  few  so  disposed, 
there  were  teachers  of  mathematics  and  astronomy.  The 
higher  education  continued  to  maintain  this  character  (speak¬ 
ing  generally)  in  all  the  towns  of  the  Mediterranean  till 
about  300  a.d. 

I  have  said  above  that  the  higher  education  connected 
itself  closely  with  the  ephebi  and  their  rules  of  life.  They 
were  not  always  on  military  duty,  and  as  their  athletics 
were  carried  on  in  the  gymnasia  where  philosophers  and 
sophists  were  in  the  habit  of  lecturing  and  teaching,  it 
gradually  became  the  custom  for  many  of  the  young  men  to 
attend  their  prelections  and  to  engage  in  dialogue  with  them. 
And  indeed,  in  the  preceding  generation  it  had  already  be¬ 
come  a  recognised  custom  for  young  men,  in  the  intervals  of 
their  epliebic  training  and  after  it  was  concluded,  to  attend 
one  or  more  teachers  of  philosophy  or  politics  or  rhetoric. 
The  military  duties  of  the  ephebi  were  reduced  to  one  year 
about  the  time  of  Philip  of  Macedon,  as  I  have  previously 
said,  and,  ere  long,  ephebic  service  became  altogether  volun¬ 
tary  ;  and  it  would  appear  that  the  youths  were  now  officially 
expected,  though  not  required,  to  attend  the  schools.  Thus 
the  ephebic  period  became  virtually  a  kind  of  ‘university’ 


288 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


life  —  in  germ  at  least.  Even  then,  however,  all  intellectual 
pursuits  gathered  round  gymnastic.  So  that  we  have  this 
interesting  result,  that  the  military  and  gymnastic  training 
of  men  above  eighteen  absorbed  into  itself  what  we  should 
in  these  days  call  university  education  —  at  least  in  so  far  as 
opportunity  went  —  just  as  the  gymnasia  themselves  became 
the  university  headquarters. 

It  was  in  the  school  of  Isocrates  (393-338  B.c.)  that  we 
find  the  best  results  of  the  higher  educational  activity  of  the 
fourth  century.  His  popularity  and  fame  all  the  world 
recognises.  As  Cicero  says  in  ‘Brutus,’  32:  'Isocrates  cujus 
domus  cunctse  Grsecise  quasi  ludus  quidam  patuit  atque  offi- 
cina  dicendi.’  Plato,  in  the  ‘  Phtedrus,’  puts  him  above  all 
the  other  teachers  of  oratory,  ‘  because  he  has  philosophy  in 
him.’  Isocrates,  however,  was  not  a  philosopher  in  the 
Platonic  or  Aristotelian  sense;  but  rather  a  man  of  large 
general  culture  and  keen  political  interests  who,  recognising 
rhetoric  as  the  greatest  of  studies,  because  by  means  of  it 
one  might  persuade  men  to  wise  political  action  and  to  a 
noble  personal  life,  organised  the  teaching  of  this  great  art. 
His  aim  was  to  make  a  thoughtful  man  and  a  capable  citi¬ 
zen  ;  but  a  capable  citizen  was  one  who  could  virite  and  speak, 
and  so  influence  his  fellow-citizens  to  wise  courses.  The 
educational  question  which  Isocrates  tried  to  solve  was, ‘  By 
what  intellectual  preparation  can  this  be  best  attained  ?  ’ 
He  always  kept  in  view  the  ethical  and  large  political  rela¬ 
tions  of  rhetoric.  He  professed  to  train  for  public  life  and 
citizenship,  not  for  abstract  investigation.  The  Athenians 
were  by  nature  an  eloquent  people ;  and,  altogether  apart 
from  practical  considerations,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  they 
would  study  eloquence,  and  that  it  should  occupy  a  supreme 
place  in  the  higher  education.  Isocrates  at  once  represented 
and  satisfied  the  national  need.  Moreover,  he  honestly 
attached  supreme  importance  to  style  as  the  servant  of  jus¬ 
tice  and  virtue  —  being  apparently  persuaded  that  true  elo¬ 
quence  must  always  be  the  reflection  of  a  virtuous  and  wise 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  289 


mind.  Eloquence,  he  held,  has  for  its  aim  the  development 
of  great  truths  and  is  the  chief  agent  in  civilisation.  And 
although  he  saw  all  round  him,  to  his  deep  regret,  this  same 
eloquence  used  to  tickle  the  ears  of  the  populace  or  to  ad¬ 
vance  personal  interests  or  unworthy  causes,  it  did  not  seem 
to  occur  to  him  that  a  higher  education  founded  on  rhetoric 
alone  must  he  ultimately  doomed  to  failure.  In  his  view  the 
best  form  and  the  best  thought  were  indissolubly  allied. 
Art  in  speech  was  the  greatest  of  arts.  In  training  to  this, 
all  the  faculties,  intellectual  and  moral,  were  trained.  Assum¬ 
ing  a  good  preliminary  secondary  education  in  grammar  and 
literature,  and  recognising  mathematics  and  astronomy  as  a 
valuable  preparatory  discipline,  he  rested  the  whole  higher 
education,  thereafter,  on  language  as  an  instrument  of  thought. 
His  pupils  spent  two  or  three  years  (sometimes  even  four) 
under  his  tuition.  We  must  therefore,  I  think,  look  upon 
this  organised  school  of  Isocrates  as  the  mother-university  of 
Europe. 

As  educationalists  the  only  quarrel  we  have  with  Isocrates 
arises  out  of  his  attitude  to  philosophy  in  the  sense  of  the 
pursuit  of  absolute  truth  —  Science.  But  having  said  this, 
we  then  become  his  followers.  The  fit  use  of  language  as 
the  expression  of  reason  in  man,  and  the  power  of  using  it 
eloquently,  not  for  personal  aggrandisement,  but  in  the 
public  interest,  was  unquestionably  in  those  days  the  mark 
of  the  highest  culture.  Is  it  not  so  even  now?  Given 
adequate  preparation  such  as  Isocrates  demanded,  and  still 
more  such  as  Quintilian  insists  upon,  there  is  much  to  be 
said  for  the  ancient  view,  even  in  these  days. 

The  higher  education,  said  Isocrates,  must  be  (1)  Practical 
—  avoiding  barren  subtleties.  (2)  Rational,  i.e.  resting  on 
the  development  of  the  whole  intelligence,  not  on  technicali¬ 
ties.  (3)  Comprehensive,  i.e.  not  limited  to  the  routine  of 
any  single  profession.  He  felt  that  he  could  carry  young 
men  through  a  curriculum  of  this  kind,  which  would  not,  it 
is  true,  make  them  orators  if  they  had  no  natural  genius  for 

eloquence,  but  would  at  least  make  cultured  men  equipped 

19 


290 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


for  the  service  of  the  state.  If  these  objects  were  to  be 
attained,  the  higher  or  university  education  ought  to  be  a 
school  of  rhetoric  and  the  sole  subject  of  study  should  be 
‘  philosophy.’  But  of  philosophy  he  took  a  wholly  practical 
view.  Denying  the  possibility  of  attaining  to  absolute  truth, 
he  regarded  philosophy  as  the  application  of  principles  to 
the  actual  work  and  occasions  of  civic  and  political  life. 
‘  The  philosophy  of  Isocrates,’  says  Professor  Jebb  (ii.  41), 
is  the  art  of  speaking  and  writing  on  large  political  subjects 
considered  as  a  preparation  for  advising  or  acting  in  political 
affairs.’  Philosophy,  so  regarded,  could  scarcely  fail  to 
mould  the  character  as  well  as  the  opinions  of  youth,  while 
giving  them  the  practical  power  of  using  their  knowledge  for 
the  benefit  of  society.  And  this  was  Isocrates’  aim  —  sub¬ 
stantially  an  ethical  one.  Pie  defends  the  better  class  of 
sophists  in  these  words :  ‘  Some  of  their  pupils  become  power¬ 
ful  debaters  ;  others  become  competent  teachers  ;  all  become 
more  accomplished  members  of  society.’ 1  Instead  of  the 
hasty  preparation  for  future  life  which  gave  rise  to  the  just 
criticisms  of  Aristotle  and  others  on  the  pretentious  character 
of  the  vulgar  sophists,  Isocrates  carried  the  pupils  through  a 
carefully  organised  course.  ‘  I  always  teach  my  pupils,’  he 
says,  ‘  that  in  composing  a  speech  the  first  thing  needful  is 
to  define  clearly  the  object  which  they  wish  the  speech  to 
effect:  the  next  thing  is  to  adapt  the  means  to  that  end’ 
(Jebb,  ii.  p.  243)  ;  and  ‘  the  real  essence  of  his  method  con¬ 
sisted  in  developing  the  learner’s  own  faculty  through  the 
learner’s  own  efforts  ’  (Jebb,  p.  46).  This  method  was 
entirely  opposed  to  that  of  the  vulgar  sophists,  who  made 
their  pupils  learn  by  heart  speeches  and  dialogues  and  then 
trust  to  their  natural  powers  of  imitation  and  their  own 
undisciplined  use  of  language ;  ‘  as  if,’  says  Aristotle,  ‘  you 
could  teach  a  man  to  be  a  shoemaker  by  showing  him  several 
pairs  of  shoes.’  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  granted  that 
Aristotle’s  ‘  Bhetoric,’  while  the  most  philosophical  exposition 
of  the  subject,  could  never  have  made  an  orator :  a  long 

1  On  the  Antidosis ,  Jebb’s  translation  (ii.  144,  of  Attic  Orators). 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  291 


course  of  practical  study  was  indispensable ;  and  the  pupils 
of  Isocrates  were  always  carried  through  a  series  of  exercises 
in  composition  and  rhetoric  which  were  carefully  prepared 
and  revised  and  corrected  by  the  master. 

The  death  of  Isocrates  did  not  affect  the  position  of 
Athens  as  the  world-centre  of  all  intellectual  activity.  The 
ambitious,  well-to-do  youth  of  the  Mediterranean  flocked  to 
Athens  to  receive  their  final  preparation  for  life.  And  this 
not  in  the  schools  of  rhetoric  alone  —  for  side  by  side  with 
the  rhetorical  schools  arose  the  great  schools  of  philosophy, 
Platonic,  Peripatetic,  Stoic,  and  Epicurean,  as  organised 
systems ,  each  with  its  teachers  and  devotees  ;  and  in  these 
the  more  thoughtful  found  satisfaction  for  their  philosophical 
aspirations. 

The  sophistic  and  philosophical  movements  combined  told, 
as  might  have  been  expected,  on  the  lower  schools.  Gram¬ 
mar,  drawing,  and  geometry  had  been  gradually  introduced : 
and  thus  a  formal  element  was  added  to  the  purely  literary 
and  musical  in  the  education  of  the  young  —  especially  of 
those  who  frequented  schools  longer  than  others.  Geogra¬ 
phy,  too,  found  a  place  in  the  school  curriculum  —  almost  a 
necessity  among  a  maritime  race  like  the  Greeks.  Thus  the 
secondary-school  curriculum  was  completed :  but  for  cen¬ 
turies,  down,  indeed,  to  the  overthrow  of  the  Boman  empire, 
it  was  only  a  good  secondary  school  which  could  boast  of 
embracing  a  complete  course.  The  result  of  Hellenic  thought 
on  the  education  of  the  man  was  ultimately  summed  up  on  the 
lines  of  Plato’s  conceptions,  supplemented  by  Aristotle.  And 
it  was  this  :  in  the  secondary  school  grammar,  literature,  music, 
drawing,  geography,  arithmetic,  and  geometry  ;  in  the  higher 
schools,  music,  arithmetic,  geometry,  and  astronomy  (all 
scientifically  treated),  these  leading  to  the  supreme  study, 
Dialectic  in  the  sense  of  philosophy. 

In  the  centuries  after  the  birth  of  Christ,  rhetoric  and 
dialectic  were  regarded  as  constituting,  with  grammar,  a 
propaedeutic  to  the  higher  physical  studies.  But  meanwhile 
they  had  altered  their  character,  and  were  taught  only  in 


292 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


their  formal  and  barren  elements.  Together  they  constituted 
the  trivium,  the  higher  studies  constituting  the  qucidrivium. 
These  names,  however,  were  not  in  use  till  the  fifth  century. 
All  through  the  middle  ages  the  seven  studies  taken  together 
constituted  the  liberal  arts.  But  dialectic  as  philosophy  in 
the  Platonic  and  Aristotelian  sense  had  vanished  from  view, 
and  the  preparatory  ‘  arts  *  became  restricted  in  their  scope 
and  sterile  in  their  results. 

It  was  to  the  philosophic  schools  to  which  I  have  above 
referred  that  Athens  continued  to  owe  its  true  fame  and  in¬ 
fluence  more  than  to  the  schools  of  the  rhetoricians.  The 
philosophers  pursued  truth  for  its  own  sake.  They  repre¬ 
sented  the  scientific  spirit.  Plato,  Aristotle,  Epicurus,  Zeno, 
all  had  their  successors.1  But,  while  it  is  true  that  it  was  to 
the  philosophic  teaching  that  Athens  owed  its  greatness,  it  is 
also  true  that  as  a  consequence  of  the  great  importance  as¬ 
signed  to  oratory  and  to  style  generally,  the  higher  education 
was  always  tending  to  degenerate  into  the  study  of  rhetoric 
alone.  A  short  road  to  oratory  was  the  desire  of  young  men, 

1  The  connection  of  these  philosophical  schools  with  certain  localities  in 
Athens  lias  been  briefly  stated  by  Professor  Mahaffy,  as  follows  : 

He  says  :  ‘There  were  two  gymnasia  (in.  the  Greek  sense)  provided  for  the 
youth  who  had  finished  their  schooling — that  in  the  groves  of  the  suburb 
called  after  the  hero  Academus,  and  that  called  the  Kynosarges,  near  Mount 
Lycabettus.  The  latter  was  specially  open  to  the  sons  of  citizens  by  foreign 
wives.  Thirdly,  in  Pericles’  day  was  established  the  Lykeion,  near  the  river 
Ilissos.  They  were  all  provided  with  water,  shady  walks,  and  gardens,  and 
were  once  among  the  main  beauties  of  Athens  and  its  neighbourhood.  The 
Academy  became  so  identified  with  Plato’s  teaching,  that  his  pupils  Antis- 
thenes  (the  Cynic)  and  Aristotle  settled  beside,  or  in,  the  Kynosarges  and 
Lykeion  respectively  and  were  known  by  their  locality,  till  the  pupils  of 
Antisthenes  removed  to  the  frescoed  portico  (stoa)  in  Athens  and  were  thence 
called  Stoics.  Epicurus  taught  in  his  own  garden  in  Athens.  All  these 
settlements  were  copied  from  Plato’s  idea.  He  apparently  taught  both  in  the 
public  gymnasium  and  in  a  private  possession  close  beside  it ;  and  in  his  will, 
preserved  by  Diogenes  Laertius,  he  bequeaths  his  two  pieces  of  land  to  Speu- 
sippus,  thus  designating  him  as  his  formal  successor.  His  practice  being  fol¬ 
lowed,  the  title  “  scholarch  ’’  soon  grew  up  for  the  head  of  the  school  and  the 
owner  of  a  life  interest  in  the  locality  devoted  to  the  purpose.  Each  master 
was  called  the  successor  ( diadochus )  of  his  predecessor,  and  the  succession  of 
these  heads  of  schools  has  been  traced  with  more  or  less  success  through  all 
the  Hellenistic  period/ —  Old  Greek  Education,  p.  136. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES 


293 


and  they  more  and  more  tended  to  gather  chiefly  round  the 
rhetoricians.  The  next  stage  of  degeneracy  was  inevitable. 
From  the  moment  linguistic  art  and  mere  style  and  oratori¬ 
cal  effect  became  the  professed  object  of  study,  education  was 
divorced  from  reality.  A  man  like  Isocrates  could  maintain 
a  living  connection  between  reason,  ethical  purpose,  and 
speech  ;  but  we  cannot  imperil  education  on  the  expectation 
of  an  apostolic  succession  of  men  of  genius.  With  the 
ordinary  teacher  degeneracy  is  certain,  if  we  do  not  hold 
high  the  scientific  aim  of  knowledge  for  the  sake  of  knowl¬ 
edge,  living  for  the  sake  of  life.  Form  tends  to  become  all 
in  all.  Not  what  is  said,  but  how  it  is  said,  becomes  the 
standard  of  culture.  Education  becomes  artificial.  Art  for 
art’s  sake  passes  into  artifice.  The  mind  wastes  its  power 
over  words  and  niceties  of  phrase  and  composition.  Origi¬ 
nality  gives  place  to  imitation.  Severe  discipline  in  lan¬ 
guage,  grammar,  and  logic  is  lost  sight  of,  and  technical 
forms  are  got  up  as  if  one  could  be  eloquent  by  rule.  Thus 
rhetoric  itself  misses  its  aim  —  eloquence.  Literature  and 
style  interest  all  men,  the  forms  of  literature  and  the  tech¬ 
nicalities  of  style  are  for  the  arid  expert  alone.  Under  the 
influence  of  rhetorical  rules,  the  severe,  manly,  simple,  and 
logical  development  of  a  theme  in  the  interests  of  truth  gives 
place  to  a  weak  and  insipid  but  fluent  loquacity,  not  intended 
to  enforce  truth  or  to  guide  to  sound  judgment,  but  merely 
to  tickle  the  popular  ear  and  to  gratify  the  vanity,  or  gain 
the  temporary  ends,  of  the  speaker.  Living  oratory  disap¬ 
pears.  Brilliant  language,  rhythmical  sound,  sharp  antitheses, 
metaphors,  images,  and  playing  on  words  had  become,  even 
before  the  Christian  era,  objects  of  unfeigned  admiration  to 
the  youth  of  the  Eastern  Mediterranean. 

It  is  usual  to  speak  with  a  certain  sentimental  regret  of 
the  early  decadence  of  the  Athenian  higher  schools.  I  can 
find  no  ground  for  holding  that  they  suffered  from  actual 
decay  till,  perhaps,  200  or  250  years  after  the  birth  of  Christ. 
Their  weakness  lay  in  the  commercial  rivalry  of  the  teachers 
and  the  growing  devotion  to  mere  rhetoric.  Assuredly,  from 


294 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


430  B.c.  to  about  300  a.d.,  Athens,  spite  of  the  rise  of  many 
rivals,  remained  the  chief  intellectual  centre  of  the  civilised 
world.  Thus  for  700  years  at  least,  spite  of  its  great  Alex¬ 
andrian  rival,  it  governed  the  higher  education.  Nor  was 
this  education  always  of  so  degenerate  a  kind  as  satirists 
would  make  us  believe.  A  young  man  repairing  to  Athens 
had  still  the  best  opportunities  that  had  ever  existed  of  dis¬ 
cussing  the  profound  questions  of  philosophy  and  science, 
and  of  prosecuting  an  extensive  literary  and  grammatical 
course  under  some  approved  rhetorician,  while  entering  into 
friendly  student  relations  with  youths  from  all  parts  of  the 
Roman  empire.  What  better  university  education  can  we 
offer  now,  if  the  education  of  young  men  means  the  stimula¬ 
tion  of  intellectual  activity  in  the  search  for  truth,  or  in  the 
attainment  of  professional  excellence  ?  It  is  true  that  many 
who  flocked  to  Athens  and  the  other  university  centres  of 
Rhodes,  Pergamon,  &c.,  often  idled  their  time,  and  that  not  a 
few  were  content  with  a  very  superficial  culture,  fitted  for 
mere  oratorical  display.  But  may  we  not,  mutatis  mutandis , 
make  the  same  remark  now  of  every  university  in  Europe  ? 

After  all  is  said  that  can  be  said  on  Hellenic  education,  I 
am  disposed  to  return  to  my  original  proposition,  viz.  that 
the  Hellenic  educational  idea,  more  or  less  conscious,  always 
was  Sophrosyne  (self-control,  balance,  limitation),  Arete ,  or 
excellence,  and  Eukosmia,  or  grace  and  becomingness  of 
bearing  and  expression.  To  say  that  the  Greeks  did  not 
wholly  succeed  in  attaining  to  this  harmonious  result  is  only 
another  way  of  saying  that  they  were  human  beings.  None 
the  less  was  the  tendency  always  in  the  direction  summed 
up  by  these  three  words.  They  always  had  a  more  or  less 
conscious  ideal  of  man,  and  to  this  each  man  was  to  be  edu¬ 
cated.  The  whole  of  life,  it  is  true,  was  governed  too  much 
by  the  idea  of  the  beautiful  —  the  artistic  conception  of 
human  life.  Hence  its  charm,  its  freedom,  its  want  of  rever¬ 
ence,  and  its  saucy  independence ;  hence,  too,  its  failure  to 
attain,  in  the  case  of  the  great  mass  even  of  educated  men, 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  295 


to  a  profound  sense  of  moral  law  1  waiting  on  all  the  acts 
and  aims  of  mortals  and  relegating  all  else  to  a  subordinate 
place.  Personal  truthfulness,  personal  purity,  and  a  sense  of 
overawing  duty  were  not  to  he  found  in  the  average  citizen, 
except  where  an  attempt  had  been  made,  as  in  Sparta,  to 
enforce  them  as  part  of  the  state-system  of  life  — an  artificial 
attempt  at  best.  We  have  in  the  Greek,  I  think,  a  pure 
exhibition  of  the  finite  and  aesthetic  side  of  human  nature  in 
its  most  charming  and  seductive  forms.  It  could  not  endure  ; 
it  is  not  to  be  imitated,  save  and  in  so  far  as  it  represents 
one  side  of  human  endeavour.  Only  where  law  and  duty 
are  supreme,  where  truth  and  reality  take  precedence  of  form, 
and  these  three,  Law,  Duty,  and  Truth  are  recognised  as  the 
divine  order  and  the  inexorable  command,  can  man  attain  to 
the  fulness  of  his  own  personality,  and  mould  an  ideal  state 
composed  of  citizens  harmoniously  educated.  In  the  Eoman 
we  find  some  glimpses  of  this  fresh  aspect  of  the  problem  of 
national  life,  and  to  him  we  shall  now  turn. 


NOTE  ON  ARISTOTLE 

The  history  of  education  is  one  thing  and  the  theoretical  views 
of  philosophers  another.  And,  accordingly,  were  it  not  that  Aris¬ 
totle  in  what  he  says  really  speaks  in  a  Greek  national  sense,  and 
is  not  merely  a  theoriser  but  a  representative  spokesman,  I  should 
not  think  it  necessary  to  append  the  following  extracts. 

Aristotle  (pupil  of  Plato,  died  322  b.c.) 

GENERAL 

‘  What  we  have  to  aim  at  is  the  happiness  of  each  citizen,  and 
happiness  consists  in  a  complete  activity  and  practice  of  virtue.’  — 
‘Politics,’  iv.  13. 

Aristotle  refers  his  reader  to  the  ‘  Ethics  ’  for  this  conclusion,  and 
thus  shows  that  with  him  education  as  a  subject  of  study  had  a 
scientific  basis  in  ethical  philosophy. 

1  I  am  speaking  of  the  Hellenic  race,  not  of  individual  dramatists  or 
philosophers. 


296 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


1  It  is  right  that  the  citizens  should  possess  a  capacity  for  affairs 
and  for  war,  but  still  more  for  the  enjoyment  of  peace  or  leisure. 
Right  that  they  should  be  capable  of  such  actions  as  are  indispen¬ 
sable  and  salutary,  hut  still  more  of  such  as  are  moral  per  se.  It  is 
with  a  view  to  these  objects,  then,  that  they  should  he  educated 
while  they  are  still  children,  and  at  all  other  ages,  till  they  pass 
beyond  the  need  of  education  ’  (iv.  14). 

The  soul  consists  of  two  parts  —  reason  in  itself,  and  the  lower 
nature  which  is  capable  of  receiving  the  rule  of  reason.  This  we 
find  in  the  ‘  De  Anima  ’ ;  hut  it  is  assumed  in  the  educational  dis¬ 
cussion.  In  educating  we  have  to  train  the  habits  so  as  to  secure 
the  supremacy  of  reason. 

Up  to  the  age  of  five  it  is  not  desirable  to  make  children  apply 
themselves  to  study  of  any  kind  or  to  compulsory  bodily  exercises, 
for  fear  of  injuring  their  growth.  They  should  be  allowed  only  so 
much  movement  as  not  to  fall  into  a  sluggish  habit  of  body. 
Their  amusements  should  not  be  of  too  laborious  a  sort,  nor  yet 
effeminate. 

Great  care  should  be  taken  as  to  the  associates  of  children,  and 
that  all  coarseness  and  foul  language  he  far  removed  from  them, 
since  light  talking  about  foul  things  is  closely  followed  by  doing 
them. 

Education,  in  the  strict  sense,  begins  at  seven  and  may  be 
divided  into  two  periods  —  seven  to  fourteen,  and  fourteen  to 
twenty-one. 

(Book  Y.  c.  1.)  Education  should  be  regulated  by  the  state  for 
the  ends  of  the  state,  and  each  citizen  should  understand  that  he  is 
not  his  own  master,  but  a  part  of  the  state. 

Also,  in  the  same  place,  he  says  :  ‘As  the  end  proposed  to  the 
state  as  a  whole  is  one,  it  is  clear  that  the  education  of  all  the 
citizens  must  be  one  and  the  same,  and  the  superintendence  of  it  a 
public  affair  rather  than  in  private  hands/ 

SUBJECTS  OF  STUDY 

Note.  —  We  must  bear  in  mind  that  Aristotle,  like  other 
Greeks,  relegated  all  mechanical  occupations  to  slaves,  who  were 
not  citizens. 

(Book  V.  2  of  ‘  Politics.’)  ‘  That  such  useful  studies  as  are  abso¬ 
lutely  indispensable  ought  to  be  taught,  is  plain  enough ;  not  all 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  297 


useful  studies,  however,  for  in  face  of  the  distinction  which  exists 
between  liberal  and  illiberal  occupations,  it  is  evident  that  our 
youth  should  not  be  allowed  to  engage  in  any  but  such  as,  being 
practically  useful,  will,  at  the  same  time,  not  reduce  one  who 
engages  in  them  to  the  level  of  a  mere  mechanic.  It  may  be 
observed  that  any  occupation,  or  art,  or  study,  deserves  to  be 
regarded  as  mechanical  if  it  renders  the  body,  or  soul,  or  intellect 
of  free  persons  unfit  for  the  exercise  or  practice  of  virtue.’  .  .  . 

‘It  is  the  object  of  any  action  or  study  which  is  all-important. 
There  may  be  nothing  illiberal  in  them  if  undertaken  for  one’s 
own  sake  or  the  sake  of  one’s  friends,  or  the  attainment  of  virtue  ; 
whereas,  the  very  same  action,  if  done  to  satisfy  others,  would  in 
many  cases  bear  a  menial  or  slavish  aspect. 

‘The  studies  established  at  the  present  day  are,  as  has  been 
already  remarked,  of  an  ambiguous  character.  We  may  say  that 
there  are  four  usual  subjects  of  education,  viz.  reading,  writing, 
gymnastic,  music,  and  further  —  although  this  is  not  universally 
admitted  —  the  art  of  design.  Reading  and  writing  and  the  art  of 
design  are  taught  for  their  serviceableness  in  the  purposes  of  life 
and  their  various  utility,  gymnastic  as  tending  to  the  promotion  of 
valour,  but  the  purpose  of  music  is  involved  in  great  uncertainty  ’ 
(Book  Y.  2). 

MUSIC  —  THE  RELATION  OF  MUSIC  TO  LEISURE  —  ITS  LIMITS  AS 

A  SUBJECT  OF  EDUCATION 

Leisure  and  the  noble  employment  of  leisure  is  the  end  we  must 
have  in  view,  according  to  Aristotle. 

‘  There  is  no  consensus  of  opinion  as  to  the  definition  of  this 
pleasure  [leisure],  each  individual  is  guided  by  his  own  personality 
and  habit  of  mind,  and  he  is  the  perfect  man  whose  pleasure  is 
perfect  and  derived  from  the  noblest  sources. 

‘It  is  evident,  then,  from  our  consideration  of  business  and 
leisure,  that  there  are  certain  things  in  which  instruction  and  edu¬ 
cation  are  necessary  with  a  view  to  leisure,  and  that  these  branches 
of  education  and  study  are  ends  in  themselves,  while  such  as  have 
business  for  their  object  are  pursued  only  as  being  indispensable 
and  as  leading  to  some  ulterior  object.  Accordingly  music  was 
introduced  into  the  educational  system  by  our  forefathers,  not  as 
indispensable  —  it  had  no  such  characteristic  —  nor  as  practically 


298 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


useful,  in  the  sense  in  which  reading  and  writing  are  useful  for 
pecuniary  transactions,  domestic  economy,  scientific  study,  and  a 
variety  of  political  actions,  or  as  the  art  of  design  is,  in  the  general 
opinion,  useful  as  a  means  of  forming  a  better  judgment  of  works 
of  art,  nor,  again,  as  useful,  like  gymnastic,  in  promoting  health 
and  vigour.  Neither  of  these  two  results  do  we  find  to  be  pro¬ 
duced  by  music.  It  remains,  therefore,  that  music  is  useful  for  the 
rational  enjoyment  of  leisure,  and  this  is  evidently  the  purpose  to 
which  it  was  in  fact  applied  by  our  forefathers,  as  it  is  ranked  by 
them  as  an  element  of  the  rational  enjoyment  which  is  considered 
to  he  appropriate  to  free  persons’  (Book  V.  3). 

Music,  like  drawing,  is  to  be  followed  as  a  liberal  and  not  as  a 
professional  study.  Enough  should  be  learned  to  enable  all  to 
enjoy  what  others  do,  and  for  this  a  certain  amount  of  practical 
acquaintance  with  both  music  and  drawing  is  necessary. 

GYMNASTIC  AND  ITS  LIMITS 

‘As  it  is  evident  that  the  education  of  the  habits  must  precede 
that  of  the  reason,  and  the  education  of  the  body  must  precede  that 
of  the  intellect,  it  clearly  follows  that  we  must  surrender  our  chil¬ 
dren  in  the  first  instance  to  gymnastic  and  the  art  of  the  trainer, 
as  the  latter  imparts  a  certain  character  to  their  physical  condition, 
and  the  former  to  the  feats  they  can  perform.  .  .  . 

‘The  duty,  then,  of  employing  gymnastic  and  the  method  of 
its  employment  are  admitted.  Up  to  the  age  of  puberty  gymnastic 
exercises  of  a  comparatively  light  kind  should  be  applied,  with  a 
prohibition  of  hard  diet  and  compulsory  exercises,  so  that  there 
may  be  no  impediment  to  the  growth.  The  fact  that  these  may 
have  the  effect  of  hindering  growth  may  be  clearly  inferred  from 
the  circumstance  that  in  the  list  of  Olympian  victors  it  would  not 
be  possible  to  find  more  than  two  or  three  who  have  been  success¬ 
ful  in  manhood  as  well  as  in  boyhood ;  for  the  effect  of  their  train¬ 
ing  in  youth  is  that  they  lose  their  physical  vigour  in  consequence 
of  the  forced  gymnastic  exercises  they  perform.  When  our  youth 
have  devoted  three  years  from  the  age  of  puberty  to  other  studies, 
it  is  then  proper  that  the  succeeding  period  of  life  should  be  occu¬ 
pied  with  hard  exercises  and  severities  of  diet.  For  the  intellect 
and  the  body  should  not  be  subject  to  severe  exertion  simultane¬ 
ously,  as  the  two  kinds  of  exertion  naturally  produce  contrary 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  299 


effects,  that  of  the  body  being  an  impediment  to  the  intellect,  and 
that  of  the  intellect  to  the  body  ’  (Book  Y.  4). 

Aristotle  then  proceeds  to  discuss  the  moral  effect  of  different 
kinds  of  music,  and  then  seems  to  get  tired  of  his  subject.  The 
whole  discussion,  though  full  of  good  sense,  is  as  a  whole  inade¬ 
quate  and  disappointing. 

But  gymnastic,  though  indispensable,  is  only,  like  reading  and 
writing,  a  preliminary ;  the  true  aim  of  education  is  the  training 
to  do  what  is  virtuous  for  its  own  sake  and  with  no  ulterior  pur¬ 
pose.  In  this  way  alone  the  capable  citizen  can  be  produced,  and 
one  who  will,  further,  be  capable  of  enjoyment  of  the  noblest 
kind.  This  being  so,  we  should  read  the  ‘  Ethics  ’  as  well  as  the 
‘  Politics’  if  we  are  to  form  a  true  conception  of  Aristotle’s  educa¬ 
tional  ideal.  The  process  of  education  is,  in  brief,  instruction  and 
discipline  in  virtue.  From  this  point  of  view  the  ‘Ethics’  is 
truly  Aristotle’s  prime  educational  treatise.  What  are  in  the 
‘  Politics  ’  called  the  subjects  of  education  are  in  truth  only  the 
indispensable  subsidiaries  or  instruments  of  the  true  education, 
which  is  ethical  in  its  aim. 

Aristotle  does  not,  unfortunately,  show  us  how  we  are  to  pro¬ 
ceed,  nor  how  best  to  form  the  noble  character  whose  employment 
of  leisure  is  noble. 

Plato’s  aim  in  education  is  a  harmonious  man  in  a  harmonious 
state.  This  harmonious  man  is  the  realisation  of  ‘the  good’  in 
the  individual,  which  again  is  identical  with  ‘the  just.’  The 
individual,  however,  is  only  a  part  of  a  higher  harmony,  the 
harmony  which  is  realised  in  a  just  state.  The  individual  is 
thus  necessarily  subject  to  the  interests  of  the  whole,  and  must  find 
his  particular  harmony  in  and  through  the  larger  harmony  of 
which  he  is  merely  a  part.  This  Platonic  conception  is  in  truth 
a  philosophic  rendering  and  an  idealisation  of  the  Doric  educa¬ 
tional  idea. 

When  we  compare  the  Platonic  with  the  Aristotelian  educa¬ 
tional  aim,  we  are  struck  by  the  more  modern  spirit  of  Aristotle. 
He  does  not  aim  at  theoretic  completeness  in  his  view  of  man  and 
the  state.  He  takes  things  as  he  finds  them  and  keeps  his  eye 
fixed  on  the  possible  and  practicable.  The  cultured  and  har¬ 
monious  man  is  not  an  object  of  concern  with  him,  but  only  the 
capable  and  virtuous  citizen.  Virtue,  in  brief,  is  Aristotle’s  edu- 


300 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


cational  end,  the  virtue  of  the  individual  without  regard  to  an 
ideal  harmony  of  nature  or  perfect  culture.  Let  each  man  he 
sound  in  body  and  virtuous,  and  Aristotle  is  content.  He 
demands,  however,  that  he  he  capable  also  of  enjoyment  and  that 
he  shall  enjoy.  He  is  not  to  he  in  such  deadly  earnest  about 
virtue  that  he  has  no  vital  energy  left  for  enjoyment  —  enjoyment 
of  a  liberal  and  elevating  kind.  Where  there  are  such  men,  the 
state  as  such  may  be  left  out  of  account  we  may  almost  say, 
although  this  is  to  strain  Aristotle.  Now  this  I  consider  to  he 
a  practical  formulation  of  the  Attic  spirit  as  opposed  to  the 
Doric.  It  is  in  the  spirit  of  Pericles’  address  to  the  Athenians 
in  which  lie  insists  on  the  claims  of  the  individual,  whom  Plato, 
on  the  other  hand,  would  subject  entirely,  as  did  the  Spartans, 
to  the  claims  of  the  state.  Aristotle’s  doctrine  is  the  doctrine 
of  freedom  ;  Plato’s  the  doctrine  of  despotism. 

Note.  —  The  translations  are  taken  from  Welldon’s  Politics. 

Authorities.  —  The  more  important  histories,  viz.  Ranke,  Curtius,  Thirl- 
wall ;  Encyclopaedias  ;  Loci  classici,  especially  from  Plato,  Aristotle,  Xeno¬ 
phon,  Plutarch,  Lucian ;  Krause’s  Geschiclite  der  Erziehung,  etc.,  hei  den 
Griechen,  Etruskern  u.  Romern.  Especially,  and  for  details,  Grasberger’s 
Erziehung  und  Unterricht  im  classischen  Altherthum;  Muller’s  Dorians; 
Becker’s  Charicles ;  Professor  Wilkins’s  National  Education  in  Greece; 
Schmidt’s  Geschichte  der  Pddagogik;1  Mahaffy’s  Old  Greek  Education ; 
Capes;  Ussing’s  Erziehung  und  Jugendunterricht  hei  den  Griechen  und 
Romern;  Paul  Girard’s  U  Education  Athenienne  ;  Professor  Jebb’s  Attic 
Orators;  Professor  Butcher’s  A spects  of  Greek  Life;  Tiele’s  Outlines  of  the 
History  of  Religions.  Also  references  to  Cramer,  and  many  others. 


1  Sentences,  I  think,  will  occasionally  be  found  translated  from  Schmidt’s  uni¬ 
versal  history,  especially  in  the  details  of  Spartan  education,  but  only  on  subjects 
and  points  which  are  commonplaces. 


D.  THE  ROMANS 


At  ilia  Ians  est  magno  in  genere  et  in  divitiis  maximis 
Liberos  hominem  educare,  generi  monumentum,  et  sibi. 

Plaut.  Mil.  iii.  108. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  GENERAL 
CHARACTERISTICS 

In  passing  from  the  Hellenic  races  to  the  Roman  people 1  we 
enter  a  new  phase  of  life,  and  yet  one  which,  while  different, 
is,  in  its  deeper  relations  to  the  progress  of  humanity,  of 
equal  importance.  The  human  spirit  which  under  the  limita¬ 
tions  imposed  by  the  Hellenic  genius  —  self-control,  virtue, 
and  grace  of  expression  —  moves  freely  in  every  direction, 
mobile,  subtle,  living,  joyous,  now  presents  itself  to  us  in  a 
less  captivating  form ;  but  the  personality  of  man,  his  self- 
conscious  worth  as  an  individual,  his  supremacy  over  the 
conditions  of  his  own  life,  are  in  this  new  field  of  educational 
study,  conspicuously  exhibited.  This  personality  does  not  now 
find  a  channel  for  its  self-assertion  in  the  creative  faculty 
and  the  exercise  of  the  imagination.  On  this  side  the  Roman 

1  Chief  dates  in  Roman  History. — Rome  founded  753  b.c.;  expulsion  of 
kings  and  beginning  of  republic  under  consuls,  509  b.c.  ;  victory  of  the 
plebeians  in  the  constitution,  366  b.c.  ;  Pyrrhus  defeated  and  Rome  supreme 
in  Italy,  275  b.c.  ;  end  of  the  second  Punic  war  and  establishment  of  Roman 
supremacy  in  Spain,  202  b.c.  ;  Macedonia  a  Roman  province,  148  b.c.  ;  Spain 
made  into  Roman  provinces,  123  b.c.  ;  Rome  at  this  date  supreme  over  the 
Mediterranean  countries.  The  Gracchi  and  their  attempted  reforms,  133-121 
B.c.  ;  Civil  war  (Marius  and  Sulla),  88-82  b.c.  ;  Caius  Julius  Caesar  puts  him¬ 
self  at  the  head  of  the  government,  48  b.c.  ;  Caesar  assassinated,  44  b.c.  ; 
Augustus  Caesar  emperor,  30  b.c.  to  14  a.d.  ;  the  Claudian  emperors,  then  the 
Flavian  emperors,  70-96  a.d.  ;  Constantine  the  Great,  306-337  A.d. 


302 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


mind  was  essentially  imitative.  It  conquered  other  nations 
in  arms,  and,  while  doing  so,  it  made  conquests  also  of 
foreign  arts,  and  it  was  as  acquisitions,  not  as  native  pro¬ 
ducts,  that  it  was  adorned  by  them.  Much  of  Roman  litera¬ 
ture,  indeed,  suggests  vigour  of  mind  and  the  force  of 
mechanical  adaptation  of  means  to  ends,  rather  than  the 
spontaneous  outburst  of  genius.  The  Roman  certainly  ac¬ 
quired  Greek  culture,  but  it  was  as  a  graft  on  a  very  homely 
Roman  stock.  Their  universal  masterfulness  was  even  here 
prominent.  Literature  was  a  conquest  rather  than  the  in¬ 
evitable  expression  of  the  popular  life ;  and  hence  it  always 
remained  the  possession  of  the  cultivated  class  alone,  and  was 
not,  as  among  the  Athenians,  the  atmosphere  which  all  free 
citizens  breathed. 

A  clear  and  direct  perception  of  his  relation  to  the  outer 
world,  not  as  a  dwelling-place  for  the  gods,  but  as  a  world  to 
subdue  and  reduce  to  order,  was  the  characteristic  of  the 
Roman.  His  bent  of  mind  was,  consequently,  essentially 
practical,  and,  as  practical,  prosaic.  If  the  Greek  ideal  was  a 
beautiful  soul  in  a  beautiful  body,  the  Roman  ideal  was  a  sound 
mind  in  a  sound  body.  Manliness,  energy,  governing  power, 
intense  personality,  and  that  keen  perception  of  the  relative 
rights  of  men  in  the  matter  of  property  —  a  perception  which 
is  the  natural  product  of  an  intense  personality  —  formed  the 
basis  of  the  Roman  character.  It  is  the  Spartan  and  not  the 
Athenian  Greek  with  whom  the  Roman  has,  from  the  first, 
certain  points  of  contact ;  but,  in  the  former  case,  we  have  a 
society  in  which  the  individual  was  largely  lost  in  the  com¬ 
munity  :  in  the  latter,  we  have  a  strong  and  abiding  individu¬ 
alism,  which  yet  spontaneously  identifies  itself  with  the 
general  good.  As  can  easily  be  understood  in  the  case  of  a 
nation  whose  genius  was  so  essentially  practical,  whose  life 
was  so  wholly  a  civil  life,  the  chief  legacy  of  thought  which 
they  bequeathed  to  humanity  was  their  moral  energy  and 
their  jurisprudence.  The  latter  we  still  study  as  the  basis  of 
all  modern  law ;  and  this  it  was  which,  during  a  long  and 
critical  period,  combined  with  the  influence  of  the  Church  to 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  303 

hold  the  civilisation  of  Europe  together,  and  finally  to  re¬ 
create  it.  Roman  law,  indeed,  is  itself  a  civilisation. 

The  origin  of  this  great  people  as  narrated  by  Livy  is  now 
discarded,  and  many  of  Hegel’s  strictures  are  accordingly 
now  irrelevant.  Certain  tribes  of  the  Latin  race  established 
themselves  on  the  Tiberine  hills  as  elsewhere  on  the  plains 
of  Latium.  These  Latin  tribes  developed  on  the  hills  which 
they  occupied  all  the  elements  of  the  civic  life  characteristic 
of  the  Latin  communities  generally,  and  they  did  so  quickly 
under  the  necessities  of  their  position  as  the  advanced  guard 
of  Latium,  and  as  masters  of  the  river.  They  formed  a  union, 
and  gradually  acquired  the  hegemony  of  all  the  Latin  race, 
further  extending  their  dominion  to  the  Yolsci  on  the  south, 
the  Sabellian  races  on  the  east,  and  the  Etruscans  on  the 
north.  This,  though  doubtless  the  true  explanation  of  the 
rise  of  the  Roman  state,  has  one  defect  (if  one  may  venture 
an  opinion  against  great  authorities)  :  it  pushes  the  theory  of 
Latin  unity  of  race  too  far,  even  almost  to  the  ignoring  of  the 
mixed  elements  in  the  primitive  community.1  All  the  ele¬ 
ments  of  the  Etruscan,  the  Latin,  and  the  Sabellian  were  un¬ 
questionably  mixed  in  the  Roman  of  history.  They  did  not 
lie  side  by  side  as  heterogeneous,  but  very  early  constituted 
a  unity. 

The  transference  of  power  from  the  kings  to  the  consuls 
and  senate  was  not  only  a  transference  from  a  monarchical 
to  an  aristocratic  and  oligarchic  government,  but  necessarily 
gave  fresh  strength  and  compactness  to  the  already  existing 
aristocracy.  The  senators  now  felt,  each  in  his  own  person, 
that  he  was  a  king  of  Rome,  and  with  this  accession  of 
dignity  there  was  also  an  increase  of  the  sense  of  responsi¬ 
bility  which  must  have  told  on  the  gravity  and  seriousness 
of  individual  character  and  bearing.  Hence  the  senate  was 
truly  described  as  an  assemblage  of  kings.  Such  a  transfer¬ 
ence  of  the  sovereignty,  too,  must  have  made  them  feel  the 

1  While  we  may  set  aside  the  Livian  predatory  origin  of  Rome,  we  must  yet, 
I  think,  regard  its  mixed  elements  combined  with  its  position  as  determining 
largely  its  character  and  its  destiny. 


304 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


necessity  of  preserving  as  much  as  possible  the  purity  and 
exclusiveness  of  their  order  in  the  interests  of  the  safety  of 
the  state,  which  might  have  been  quickly  overwhelmed  by 
the  intrusion  of  the  democracy.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that,  had  the  democracy  attained  to  that  supremacy  which 
characterised  the  Athenian  Demos,  Dome  would  never  have 
developed  into  the  Eoman  Empire.  A  great  and  noteworthy 
civic  community  it  would  doubtless  have  been,  but  little 
more  than  this.  The  Latin  communities  would  have  held 
their  own  outside  the  Servian  wall,  the  Samnites  and  Sabines 
would  have  continued  to  lead  an  uncontrolled  existence,  and 
the  already  established  Etruscan  power  would  probably  have 
permanently  overawed  the  rising  state.  To  create  and  main¬ 
tain  an  empire  there  must  be  a  continuity  of  purpose  and 
policy  which  is  alien  to  a  pure  democracy.  Whether  we 
approve  of  a  hereditary  aristocracy  or  not,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  conserves  a  tradition  of  individual  and  family 
life  as  well  as  of  national  policy,  and  thus  contributes  power¬ 
fully  to  the  stability  and  permanence  of  a  state  in  its  domes¬ 
tic,  and  especially  in  its  foreign,  relations.  At  the  same  time 
it  has  its  dangers,  for  it  rests  the  healthy  life  of  the  state  on 
one  class,  and  the  corruption  of  this  is  the  corruption  of  the 
whole. 

The  elements  of  weakness  in  the  Eepublic  which  finally 
made  the  imperial  form  of  government  inevitable  it  would  be 
irrelevant  here  to  trace.  It  is  not  difficult  now,  after  the 
event,  to  see  that  the  growth  of  a  city  into  that  unwieldiness 
of  bulk  to  which  Eome  attained  when  it  became  the  centre 
of  the  commerce  and  life  of  the  world,  would  have  made 
it  impossible  for  even  a  pure  Senate  after  the  mind  of  Cato 
himself  to  hold  firmly  the  reins  of  power.  But  with  the 
growth  of  the  Eoman  Empire  the  senatorial  purity  and  self- 
denying  patriotism  had,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  vanished.  The 
personal  aggrandisement  for  which  the  tributary  wealth  of 
the  world  gave  such  opportunities,  with  the  corruptions 
caused  by  slavery,  the  divorce  of  the  Italians  from  the  land 
as  free  cultivators,  the  subversion  of  religious  faith,  and  the 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  305 


introduction  of  those  larger  ideas  of  personal  development 
and  culture  which  Greece  taught,  all  combined  to  put  an  end 
for  ever  to  the  assemblage  of  kings.  The  proscriptions  of 
Marius  and  the  reprisals  of  Sulla  had  also  weeded  out  the 
ancient  families,  and  wealthy  plebeians,  advanced  to  senato¬ 
rial  rank,  had  by  the  time  of  Augustus  almost  wholly  super¬ 
seded  the  ancient  nobility.  You  find  now  no  longer  the 
austere  old  Roman  Senate,  but,  as  an  eminent  historian  has 
remarked,  your  eye  is  arrested  by  a  succession  of  great  in¬ 
dividuals  who  dominated  the  state.  This  prominence  of  in¬ 
dividuals,  and  the  impossibility  of  a  city  ruling  an  empire,  led 
to  the  final  organisation  of  the  Imperial  Government  which, 
while  preserving  ancient  Republican  forms,  preserved  them 
as  a  mere  phantom  of  the  past,  the  lifeless  form  of  a  freedom 
that  had  been.  Assuredly  one  cause  of  the  corruption  of 
society  was  the  superseding  of  the  traditionary  education  by 
unconsidered  and  unregulated  novelties.  The  old  austere 
domestic  system  had  disappeared,  and  what  had  taken  its 
place  was  not  due  to  any  deliberate  state-policy,  but  only  to 
the  caprice  of  individuals  —  at  least  till  after  the  empire  had 
been  for  some  time  established. 

Our  chief  business,  however,  is  with  the  Roman  people  in 
all  their  moral  greatness  and  strength  as  factors  in  the  world- 
history,  taking  first  of  all  the  period  which  ends  with  the 
fall  of  Carthage.  We  find  in  them  great  moral  qualities  — 
qualities,  indeed,  which  the  history  of  the  past  shows  us  to 
be  necessary  to  the  rise  of  a  stable  social  organisation.  The 
popular  idea  of  the  Roman  is  that  of  manly  vigour ,  and  the 
popular  idea  is  correct.  To  this  it  is  added  by  Hegel  that 
he  was  a  creature  of  the  abstract  understanding  —  prosaic, 
utilitarian,  practical.  This,  also,  is  true,  and  hence  we  may 
find  a  key  to  the  Roman  character,  even  in  the  ideal  sphere 
of  his  religion. 

Religion.  —  In  religion  the  Roman  was  unquestionably 
serious  and  devout.  The  community  between  gods  and  men 
was  not,  however,  understood  as  among  the  Hellenes.  There 

was  no  rich  mythology  to  bridge  over  the  space  that  sepa- 

20" 


306 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


rated  gods  and  men.  The  Eoman  gods  were  not  separate 
idealised  personalities  as  among  the  Greeks,  who  recognised 
no  god  to  whom  they  did  not  give  a  concrete  form.  There 
was,  however,  with  the  Eoman  a  deep  spiritual  side  to  every¬ 
thing,  and  that  the  Eoman  abstracted,  assigning  to  it  the 
name  and  power  of  deity.  The  gods  differed  in  importance 
only  in  so  far  as  the  abstract  thought  was  more  or  less 
generalised.  For  example,  if  Jupiter  and  Juno  are  the 
abstractions  of  manhood  and  womanhood  and  Dea-Dia  or 
Ceres  the  creative  power,  their  position  in  the  Pantheon 
would  necessarily  be  higher  than  Fides  (fidelity  to  engage¬ 
ments),  Terminus  the  boundary  god,  Silvanus  the  god  of  the 
forest,  or  V ertumnus  the  god  of  the  circling  year.  So  intense 
was  this  spiritual  perception  and  so  disposed  to  fit  itself 
to  abstract  and  yet  definite  forms,  that  in  the  prayer  for 
husbandmen,  as  Mommsen  says,  ‘there  were  invoked  the 
spirits  of  fallowing,  of  ploughing,  of  furrowing,  sowing,  cover¬ 
ing  in,  harrowing,  and  so  forth.’  In  like  manner  marriage, 
birth,  and  death,  and  every  other  natural  event,  were  endowed 
with  a  sacred  life.  This  is  not  to  be  confounded  with 
element-worship :  it  was  the  worship,  or  at  least  the  abstract 
and  reverential  recognition,  of  the  Unseen  Power  that  resided 
in  all  things.  The  feeling  of  awe  with  which  the  Eoman 
regarded  the  gods,  as  compared  with  the  joyous  friendliness 
of  the  Greeks,  is  well  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the  latter 
when  he  sacrificed  raised  his  eyes  to  heaven,  the  former 
veiled  his  head.  The  gravitas  of  the  Eoman  character  was 
largely  due  to  the  seriousness,  approaching  even  sadness, 
which  characterised  his  religion.  The  awe  with  which  the 
Eoman  contemplated  the  Unseen  is  also  indicated  in  the 
word  ‘  religio,’  whether  we  connect  it  with  ‘  binding  ’  or 
‘reflection  ’  (Conscience)  —  ( religare  or  relegere).  This  relig¬ 
ion  —  the  early  religion  of  Eome  —  may  be  called  an  organ¬ 
ised  Animism,  but  it  is  very  seriously  held. 

The  supreme  Eoman  god  was  Jupiter  Optimus  Maximus, 
not  merely  as  representative  of  abstract  man,  but  as  the 
reflection  of  the  life  of  Eome  as  a  civil  life,  and  as  the 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  307 


guardian  of  the  state.  Doubtless,  the  position  of  this  god 
was  largely  due  to  Greek  influence.  J upiter,  as  supreme  god, 
was  regarded  also  as  father  of  men  and  source  of  all  blessings, 
and  preeminently  the  god  of  good  faith  and  purity.  There 
was  thus  a  distinct  ethical  element  in  the  Roman  conception ; 
for  Jupiter  was  the  god  of  life  and  light  and  purity  no  less 
than  the  divine  personification  of  the  Roman  State.  Next  to 
Jupiter  was  Mars,  as  reflecting  the  military  spirit.  A  deep 
religious  feeling  was  exhibited  not  only  in  the  earlier  periods 
of  Roman  society,  but  all  through  its  history,  spite  of  Hellenic 
influences  and  the  introduction  among  the  people  of  numer¬ 
ous  gods.  The  great  Scipio  Africanus  went  daily  into  the 
temple  of  Jupiter  to  pray,  and  ascribed  all  his  triumphs  to 
the  protecting  care  of  the  god  of  Rome.  Even  Velleius 
Paterculus,  writing  so  late  as  the  time  of  Tiberius,  concludes 
his  history  with  a  prayer,  part  of  which  only  has  been  pre¬ 
served,  but  which  begins  thus  :  — ‘  0  Jupiter  (Capitolinus)  ! 
0  Jupiter  Stator !  0  Mars  Gradivus,  author  of  the  Roman 

name !  0  Vesta,  guardian  of  the  eternal  fire !  O  all  ye 

deities  who  have  exalted  the  present  magnitude  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  raising  it  to  a  position  of  supremacy  over  the  world ! 
Guard,  preserve,  and  protect,  I  beseech  you,  in  the  name  of 
the  Commonwealth,  our  present  State,  &c.’  Even  if  this  be 
regarded  as  a  merely  conventional  conclusion  to  a  history, 
the  fact  that  it  was  so  would  not  affect  our  argument.  After 
all  that  can  be  said,  however,  it  is  true  that  just  as  the  cult 
of  Apollo  was  the  true  religion  of  the  Greeks,  so  Rome,  as 
identified  with  Jupiter,  or  Jupiter  as  identified  with  Rome, 
was  the  religion  of  Romans. 

The  Hellenic  gods,  with  their  accompanying  mythical 
legends,  began  to  enter  into  the  Roman  religious  system  even 
so  early  as  the  time  of  the  kings ;  but  even  they,  so  to  speak, 
became  Romans.  For,  religious  as  the  Romans  were,  there 
was  little  of  either  the  vaguely  infinite  or  the  artistic  ideal  in 
their  objects  of  worship.  The  gods  all  had  a  practical  char¬ 
acter,  having  to  do  with  the  civic  economy  or  with  social 
relations  or  moralities,  and  religious  rites  were  used  to 


308 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


strengthen  some  of  the  best  habits  of  the  people.  Such  a 
system,  while  promoting  the  stability  of  the  Commonwealth, 
could  not  possibly  afford  elements  for  the  imagination  and 
for  art  to  work  upon.  Even  Greek  sculpture  when  it  entered 
Eome  took  the  practical  form  of  portraiture  and  ministered 
to  the  pride  of  family.  The  finite  aims  and  prosaic  char¬ 
acter  of  the  Roman  were  thoroughly  interwoven  with  his 
religious  system,  even  when  the  primaeval  form  of  it  had 
given  way  to  the  worship  of  Hellenicised  deities.  Church 
and  State  were  truly  one.  In  fact  religion,  as  Ihne  says 
(iv.  p.  3), ‘  was  with  the  Romans  not  a  matter  of  feeling 
or  speculation,  but  of  law  ;  ’  but,  as  such,  it  was  a  great 
reality. 

In  the  earlier  period  of  Roman  history,  the  king  acted  as 
chief  intercessor  with  the  gods,  and  appointed  the  priest  and 
priestesses  —  a  power  which  afterwards  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  College  of  Priests,  who  nominated  a  Pontifex  Maximus. 
They  were  an  aristocratic  body  and  constantly  abused  their 
office  to  promote  the  power  of  the  Senate.  Subsequently  the 
tribes  elected  citizens  to  the  office  of  president,  but  during 
the  time  of  Sulla  this  privilege  was  restored  to  the  colleges, 
and  in  63  b.c.  it  returned  to  the  tribes.  The  Roman  state 
was  thus  free  from  the  evils  of  a  hereditary  priesthood.  The 
priest  never  lost  his  character  of  being  a  civil  functionary, 
just  as  originally  the  king,  as  head  of  the  civil  power,  had 
been  chief  priest. 

In  the  last  century  of  the  republic,  the  monotheism  which 
had  attached  itself  to  the  name  of  Jupiter  Optimus  Maxi¬ 
mus  became  more  prominent  among  the  cultured  few,  and 
in  early  imperial  times  we  find  among  the  Stoics  and 
Platonists  a  belief  in  one  overruling  God  and  a  devotion 
to  ethical  philosophy,  which  do  much  to  atone  for  the  reck¬ 
less  irreligion  or  practical  idolatry  of  the  many.  But  when 
we  consider  the  extinction  of  ancient  tradition  and  belief 
and  all  that  constituted  the  distinctive  Roman  ‘  conscience/ 
we  are  surprised  that  society  still  held  together  as  it  did 
for  so  many  centuries.  The  Roman  seemed  still  to  draw 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  309 


strength  from  his  past  history,  and  an  inherited  patriotism 
and  concentration  of  purpose  may  he  said  to  have  survived, 
in  their  practical  influence,  their  own  death.  This  Roman 
religion  of  patriotism  finds  expression  in  the  ‘  De  Officiis  ’ 
of  Cicero,  i.  17  :  —  ‘Cari  sunt  parentes,  cari  liberi,  propinqui 
familiares ;  sed  omnes  omnium  caritates  patria  una  com- 
plexa  est ;  pro  qua  quis  bonus  dubitet  mortem  oppetere  ei 
si  sit  profuturus?’  We  shall  see  the  firm  basis  of  this 
intense  feeling  in  the  family  and  the  civic  and  civil  consti¬ 
tution,  of  which  we  shall  now  speak. 

Social  Life.  —  The  Roman  family  was  the  unit  of  the 
Roman  state.  This  could  not  be  said  either  of  Athens  or 
Sparta.  In  the  family  we  find,  in  its  most  pronounced 
form,  the  absolute  authority  of  the  father.  ‘  If  any  one 
thing/  says  Becker  in  his  ‘  G alius/  ‘  more  strikingly  exhibits 
the  austerity  of  the  Roman  character  and  its  propensity  to 
domination,  it  is  the  arbitrary  power  which  the  father  pos¬ 
sesses  over  his  children.  By  the  laws  of  Nature  immediate 
authority  over  the  children  belongs  to  the  father  only  for 
the  time  during  which  they  require  his  providing  care,  pro¬ 
tection,  and  guidance.  The  humanity  and  right  feeling  of 
the  Grecian  legislators  led  them  to  look  at  the  matter  from 
this  point  of  view,  and  they  allowed  the  authority  of  the 
father  to  last  only  till  the  son  was  of  a  certain  age,  or  till  he 
was  married,  or  was  entered  on  the  list  of  citizens,  and  they 
so  restricted  this  power  that  the  utmost  a  father  could  do 
was  to  eject  his  son  from  his  house  and  disinherit  him. 
Not  so  in  Rome.  There  the  child  was  born  the  property 
of  his  father,  who  could  dispose  of  it  as  he  thought  fit. 
This  power  might  last,  under  certain  limitations,  even  till 
the  death  of  the  father/ 1  ‘  The  power  we  have  over  our 

children/  says  the  jurist  Gaius,  ‘is  a  right  peculiar  to  the 
Romans/  In  truth  we  must  regard  the  father  of  the  family 
as  both  priest  and  magistrate.  A  patria  potestas  so  abso¬ 
lute  gave  unity  to  the  family. 

The  practice  of  monogamy  was  not  peculiar  to  the 

1  Excursus  ii.  to  scene  1,  p.  179. 


310 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Romans,  but  the  honour  paid  to  the  wife  as  head  of  the 
household  seems  to  have  been  first  fully  recognised  by 
them.  The  Spartan  mother  had  a  high  place  assigned  to 
her;  but,  owing  to  the  public  system  of  education,  she 
exercised  less  personal  influence  than  the  Roman.  Within 
the  house,  woman  was  not  servant  but  mistress.  She 
exercised  a  power  almost  equal  to  that  of  her  husband. 
£  Exempted,’  says  Mommsen,  ‘  from  the  tasks  of  corn-grind¬ 
ing  and  cooking,  which,  according  to  the  Roman  ideas, 
belonged  to  menials,  the  Roman  housewife  devoted  herself 
in  the  main  to  the  superintendence  of  her  maid-servants 
and  to  the  accompanying  labours  of  the  distaff.’  She  was 
not  relegated  to  private  life  in  the  gynceceum,  like  the 
Athenian  wife.  She  occupied  the  atrium  surrounded  by 
her  servants  and  children.  The  woman  being  held  in  such 
high  honour,  and  her  permanent  position  as  wife  being 
protected  by  law,  she  felt  that  on  her  largely  depended  the 
honour  of  the  family.  The  high  moral  character  of  the 
Roman  matron  thus  became  famous  for  all  time ;  and  her 
influence  on  the  character  and  education  of  her  sons  was 
unquestionably  great.  ‘Do  not  kiss  me,’  said  the  mother 
of  the  victorious  Coriolanus,  ‘  till  I  know  whether  you  are 
an  enemy  or  a  son,’  and  when  his  wife  fell  on  her  knees 
weeping  in  support  of  the  mother,  the  haughty  conqueror 
yielded  and  said,  ‘  Mother,  this  is  a  happy  victory  for  you 
and  for  Rome,  but  it  is  ruin  and  shame  to  your  son;’  and 
shedding  tears,  fell  back  from  the  city  which  he  had  pre¬ 
viously  doomed.  We  may,  then,  confidently  accept  the 
remark  of  Mommsen,  that  the  ‘  Roman  family  from  the  first 
contained  within  it  the  conditions  of  a  high  culture  in  the 
mere  moral  adjustment  of  the  mutual  relations  of  its  mem¬ 
bers.’  ‘As  the  strictly  organised  family,’ says  Ihne  (iv.  250), 
‘  forms  the  basis  for  the  national  life  of  the  Roman  people 
and  the  starting  point  for  the  development  of  the  state ; 
so  also  Roman  morality  and  private  economy  were  deter¬ 
mined  by  the  influence  which  the  same  family  organisa¬ 
tion  exercised  upon  every  member  of  society.  .  .  .  Labour, 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  311 


frugality,  self-sacrifice  for  the  good  of  the  house  and  state 
were  the  active  virtues  of  the  old  Roman  peasant.’ 

The  unity  of  the  family  found  its  centre  in  the  worship 
of  the  household  gods,  the  Penates  and  Lares.  The  penates 
were  the  gods  of  the  hearth,  the  lares  were  the  ‘  lords  ’  of  the 
family  —  the  departed  spirits  of  ancestors,  who  were  regarded 
as  still  concerned  with  the  well-being  of  their  descendants. 
The  image  of  the  chief  lar,  clad  in  a  toga,  usually  stood 
between  two  penates  in  the  atrium  of  the  house  beside  the 
household  hearth.  This  shrine  the  ancient  Roman  saluted 
daily  with  a  morning  prayer  and  an  offering  from  the  table, 
while  three  times  every  month  and  on  all  festivities  —  such 
as  birth-days,  assumption  of  the  toga  virilis,  marriage,  or  the 
return  of  a  member  of  the  family  after  long  absence  —  sacri¬ 
fices  were  offered.  The  father  was  priest.  Though  evil 
spirits  among  the  departed  were  recognised  by  the  Romans 
(as  among  all  nations  in  some  form  or  other)  this  did  not  affect 
their  religious  trust  in  the  good.  The  gens  or  clan  again  was 
merely  an  enlarged  familia,  and  as  each  father  and  mother 
were  priest  and  priestess  in  their  own  house,  so  the  gentes 
had  common  altars  and  sacrifices.  The  state  was  thus  made 
up  of  many  little  states,  bound  together  by  mutual  interests 
and  religious  ceremonies.  The  authority  of  the  head  of  each 
family  was  the  basis  of  the  authority  of  the  central  power, 
and  the  obedience  and  military  subjection  of  the  members  of 
the  families  and  clan  was  the  basis  of  that  capacity  for  obedi¬ 
ence  and  discipline  which  always  distinguished  the  Roman. 
It  was  the  abstract  beliefs  in  the  spirits  of  ‘  things  ’  and  the 
domestic  worship  which  constituted  the  true  and  effective 
Roman  religion,  before  the  influence  of  Greece  was  felt. 

The  religion  of  the  Roman  state,  it  has  been  said,  was 
simply  the  religion  of  the  domestic  hearth  writ  large,  for  the 
state,  too,  had  its  common  hearth  where  the  Vestal  Virgins 
guarded  for  ever  the  eternal  fire  which  symbolised  at  once 
the  sacredness  and  the  purity  of  the  Roman  home.  But 
while  the  goddess  of  the  hearth,  Vesta,  held  her  central 
place  of  honour  in  the  vaulted  temple  [supposed  to  have  been 


312 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


built  after  the  manner  of  the  atrium  of  a  house]  between  the 
Capitoline  and  Palatine  hills,  she  was  worshipped  not  merely 
as  a  public  goddess,  as  among  the  Greeks,  but  at  every  pri¬ 
vate  hearth.  The  common  meals  of  the  family  were  taken 
round  the  hearth,  and  were  a  daily  bond  of  family  union  and 
a  daily  act  of  worship.  The  penates  protected  the  going  out 
and  coming  in  of  the  members  of  the  family,  and  to  them  at 
every  meal  libations  were  offered. 

The  depth  of  family  feeling  among  the  Romans  and  the 
conservatism  of  their  character  are  well  illustrated  by  the 
practice  of  carrying  masks  of  their  progenitors  to  funerals,  so 
that  the  head  of  a  family  might  be  said  to  be  followed  by 
his  own  ancestors  to  the  last  funeral  rites. 

So  closely  was  the  Roman  life  bound  up  with  religion  that 
we  have  found  it  impossible  to  speak  of  the  one  without 
the  other.  The  Roman  state  ultimately  rests  on  Jupiter  as 
law  and  order  and  object  of  supreme  reverence,  on  Mars  as 
the  arm  strong  for  defence  and  offence,  and  on  Vesta  as  sym¬ 
bolising  the  sacredness  and  purity  of  the  home. 1 

Civil  Relations.  —  What  now  was  the  Roman  in  his 
civil  relations,  as  distinguished  from  the  religious  and  the 
social  ? 

In  the  original  constitution  of  Rome  the  burgesses,  or  free¬ 
men,  constituted  the  state.  The  elders  of  the  three  hundred 
clans  forming  the  community  were  the  senate,  and  co-ordi¬ 
nate  with  the  king.  The  various  members  of  the  family, 
however  distantly  related,  constituted  the  gens  or  clan.  The 
senators  who  represented  the  clans  —  to  the  number  of  three 
hundred  —  were  the  king’s  council,  but  the  ultimate  appeal 
was  to  the  whole  body  of  burgesses  or  patricii.  We  see  from 
this  that,  from  the  first,  the  Roman  led  a  public  and  political 
life.  The  expulsion  of  the  kings  and  the  transference  of 
power  to  the  consuls  and  senate  (509  B.c.)  gave  to  the 

1  The.practical  disruption  of  the  Roman  religion  under  Hellenic  influences 
before  the  end  of  the  Republic,  I  do  not  enter  into.  Spite  of  all  the  changes  and 
the  influx  of  many  gods,  the  old  Roman  idea  seems  to  me  to  have  survived  far 
into  imperial  times. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  313 


world  the  most  powerful  aristocratic  republic  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  The  burgesses  alone  had  originally  the  duty  of 
bearing  arms,  which  thus  was  a  privilege.  These  were  the 
patres,  and  they  and  their  families  were  called  patricians  in 
opposition  to  the  plebs  —  those  inhabitants  of  Rome  who  had 
gathered  there  after  the  original  settlement.  It  would  he 
out  of  place  here  to  dwell  on  the  history  of  Roman  civil  life, 
or  to  speak  of  the  struggles  between  patricians  and  plebeians. 
Even  in  these  struggles  a  common  patriotism  was  never  for¬ 
gotten.  Enough  is  done  for  our  purposes  here  if  I  point  out 
the  leading  characteristics  of  life  of  the  Roman  generally. 
It  is  thus  that  we  get  a  key  to  his  conceptions  of  education. 

One  great  event  in  the  development  of  Roman  civil  life 
must,  however,  be  named  —  the  appointment  of  decemviri  to 
draw  up  a  code  of  law.  This  code  (the  Twelve  Tables),  ap¬ 
proved  by  the  senate  and  sanctioned  by  the  assemblies  of  the 
people,  was  doubtless  largely  based  on  the  customary  law 
which  had  arisen  in  the  preceding  centuries.  It  was  more  in 
the  interests  of  the  masses  of  the  people  than  of  the  aristo¬ 
cratic  senate  that  there  should  be  a  code  to  which  all  might 
appeal.  The  object  was  the  ‘  equalising  of  liberty/  for  Law, 
as  opposed  to  the  arbitrary  decisions  of  individuals  however 
wise,  is  liberty.  These  laws  (‘  fountain  of  public  and  private 
law/  as  Livy  says)  constituted  the  basis  of  the  great  Roman 
jurisprudence,  and  in  respect  of  language  were  concise,  lucid, 
simple,  and  in  all  respects  admirable.  They  were  cut  on 
bronze  tablets  and  put  up  in  a  public  place.  The  date  of 
their  publication  was  450  b.c.,  and  we  may  regard  this  as  the 
second  founding  of  the  Roman  state.  The  idea  of  law  and 
the  supremacy  of  law  did  not  then  for  the  first  time  enter 
the  Roman  mind,  but  its  existence  was  signalised  and  con¬ 
firmed  by  a  public  act  which  was  not  only  the  guarantee  of 
Roman  liberty  but  an  important  factor  in  the  history  of 
European  civilisation. 

Let  us  now  sum  up  this  brief  survey.  What  have  we 
found  ?  A  people  with  deep  religious  instincts  which  lead 


314 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


us  to  expect  that  religious  instruction  and  sentiment  will 
find  a  prominent  place  in  the  education  of  children ;  an 
almost  sacred  family  life,  with  an  autocratic  father,  but 
happily  also  with  a  true  house-mother  at  its  head ;  a  free 
and  intensely  political  public  life  —  a  life  in  the  forum  —  at 
once  cause  and  effect  of  a  strong  sense  of  that  community  of 
the  social  organism  which  is  at  the  root  of  all  true  patriotism  ; 
an  unquestioned  recognition  of  the  supremacy  of  law,  and  in 
connection  with  all  this  a  military  life  reserved  as  an  hon¬ 
ourable  function  for  the  true  citizen.  In  Rome  the  executive 
authority  of  the  magistrate,  whether  king,  consul,  dictator,  or 
emperor,  was  never  questioned,  any  more  than  the  authority 
of  the  council  of  elders.  To  the  interests  of  the  state  as  a 
whole  every  individual  was  prepared  to  sacrifice  himself. 
This  did  not  weaken  the  family  idea.  On  the  contrary,  it 
was  the  chief  glory  of  the  leading  families  to  have  served  the 
state  nobly.  ‘  Life  in  the  case  of  the  Roman,’  says  Mommsen 
(ii.  4,  8), ‘was  spent  under  conditions  of  austere  restraint, 
and  the  nobler  he  was  the  less  was  he  a  free  man.  All-pow¬ 
erful  custom  restricted  him  to  a  narrow  range  of  thought  and 
action ;  and  to  have  led  a  serious  and  strict  life,  or,  to  use  a 
Latin  expression,  a  grave  and  severe  life,  was  his  glory. 
Nothing  more  or  less  was  expected  of  him  than  that  he 
should  keep  his  household  in  good  order,  and  unflinchingly 
bear  his  part  of  counsel  and  action  in  public  affairs.  But 
while  the  individual  had  neither  the  wish  nor  the  power  to 
be  aught  else  than  a  member  of  the  community,  the  glory 
and  the  might  of  that  community  were  felt  by  every  indi¬ 
vidual  burgess  as  a  personal  possession  to  be  transmitted 
along  with  his  name  and  his  homestead  to  posterity ;  and 
thus,  as  one  generation  after  another  was  laid  in  the  tomb 
and  each  in  succession  added  its  fresh  contribution  to  the 
stock  of  ancient  honours,  the  collective  sense  of  dignity  in 
the  noble  families  of  Rome  swelled  into  that  mighty  pride 
of  Roman  citizenship  to  which  the  earth  has  never,  perhaps, 
witnessed  a  parallel,  and  the  traces  of  which  —  strange  as 
they  are  grand  —  seem  to  us  whenever  we  meet  them  to 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  315 


belong,  as  it  were,  to  another  world.  It  was  one  of  the  char¬ 
acteristic  peculiarities  of  this  mighty  pride  of  citizenship 
that,  while  not  suppressed,  it  was  yet  compelled  by  the  rigid 
simplicity  and  equality  that  prevailed  among  the  citizens  to 
remain  locked  up  within  the  breast  during  life,  and  was  only 
allowed  to  find  expression  after  death  ;  but  it  was  displayed 
in  the  funeral  of  the  man  of  distinction  so  intensely  and  con¬ 
spicuously  that  this  ceremonial  is  better  fitted  than  any  other 
phenomenon  of  Roman  life  to  give  us  who  live  in  other  times 
a  glimpse  of  the  wonderful  spirit  of  the  Romans.’ 

But  the  civic  and  civil  life  of  the  Romans  could  not  have 
sustained  itself,  even  with  the  help  of  that  respect  for  ances¬ 
try  which  included  a  veneration  for  the  forms  as  well  as  the 
life  of  the  past,  and  for  Jupiter  as  Head  of  the  State,  had  it 
not  been  for  the  instinctive  recognition  of  law  as  the  basis  of 
true  liberty  which  made  Rome  an  ever-extending  and  long- 
enduring  power.  ‘  The  Romans  were  distinguished,’  says 
Ihne  (iv.  7),  ‘  from  all  other  nations  not  only  by  the  extreme 
earnestness  and  precision  with  which  they  conceived  their 
law  and  worked  out  the  consequences  of  its  fundamental 
principles,  but  by  the  good  sense  which  made  them  submit 
to  the  law,  once  established,  as  an  *  absolute  necessity  of 
political  health  and  strength.  It  was  this  severity  in 
thinking  and  acting  which,  more  than  any  other  causes,  made 
Rome  great  and  powerful.  .  .  .  The  divine  law,  the  elder 
sister  of  the  civil  law,  was  the  pattern  on  which  the  latter 
was  moulded.  Both  were  characterised  by  the  same  severity, 
systematic  order,  deference  to  fixed  formulas,  and  fear  of 
change.’ 

The  Personal  Character  of  the  Roman.  —  The  char¬ 
acter  of  the  Roman  is  sufficiently  indicated  in  what  we  have 
already  said ;  but  a  few  more  words  seem  necessary,  inas¬ 
much  as  the  tradition  of  character,  no  less  than  that  of 
civic  life  and  duty,  was  the  main  source  of  the  education 
of  successive  generations  for  the  first  350  years  of  the  city’s 
life. 

In  the  Roman  a  personality  more  intense  than  the  Hellenic 


316 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


is  visible.  He  exists,  doubtless,  for  tlie  state ,  but  in  tbis 
sense,  that  the  state  exists  in  and  through  him.  From  the 
first  a  certain  self-sufficing  Stoic  dignity  characterises  him. 
Roman  personality  asserts  itself  as  always  subordinate  to  the 
state,  yet  governed  by  the  thought  that  the  state  exists 
through  and  by  virtue  of  the  individual  and  of  the  family 
which  the  father  represents.  The  state  needs  the  individual, 
and  each  citizen  proudly  bears  the  burden  of  the  civil  life. 
The  feelings  of  personality,  of  a  regulative  will,  and  of  obli¬ 
gation  to  law  and  duty,  are  closely  interwoven  in  their  roots 
in  human  nature ;  and  where  they  exist  we  should  expect  to 
find  those  complex  virtues  flourish  into  which  personality, 
will,  and  a  sense  of  law  most  largely  enter.  These  virtues 
are  integrity,  courage,  resolution,  persistence,  fidelity,  and 
justice,  in  the  sense  of  law ;  and  the  very  naming  of  these 
ethical  characteristics  recalls  to  our  minds  the  ancient 
Roman  of  tradition,  the  founder  of  an  empire.  With  such  a 
people  you  expect  to  find  great  administrative  ability.  They 
are  born  to  govern,  and  to  conquer  that  they  may  govern. 
Their  persistency,  nay,  pertinacity,  explains  itself.  Mark  the 
saying  of  the  proud  and  overbearing  Roman :  ‘  Rome  must 
never  conclude  a  peace,  save  as  victor ;  ’  an  issue  of  war  only 
attainable  by  inflexible  hardness,  and  more,  alas,  of  the  exter¬ 
nal  show  than  the  reality  of  justice  to  enemies  and  rebels. 
With  such  a  people  you  expect  to  find  a  power  of  subduing 
nature  as  well  as  men  to  their  imperious  and  imperial  will. 
Their  roads,  their  bridges,  their  aqueducts,  their  public  build¬ 
ings,  all  testify  to  this. 

As  the  people,  par  eminence,  of  practical  reason,  the  rela¬ 
tions  of  men  as  holders  of  property,  which  represents  to  the 
eye  of  sense  our  personalities,  are  always  vividly  present  to 
them,  and  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  a  keen  perception  of 
relative  rights,  of  practical  justice  as  between  members  of  the 
same  state  at  least,  and  subsequently  as  between  nations,  and 
the  consequent  creation  of  a  sound  jurisprudence  which,  with 
the  extension  of  the  empire,  becomes  vast  and  imposing,  and 
from  being  civic  and  national  becomes  imperial  and  cosmo- 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  317 


politan.  To  the  remark  that  Greece  conquered  took  Rome 
captive  by  its  arts,  may  be  aptly  opposed  this,  that  Rome 
fallen  took  its  victors  captive  by  its  law,  and  still,  indeed, 
holds  them  bound. 

The  beautiful,  however  —  art  and  the  softer  and  gentler 
emotions  —  are  as  incompatible  with  the  Roman  nature  as  a 
joyous  delight  in  life  for  mere  life’s  sake,  and  in  nature  for 
nature’s  sake.  These  things  are  to  be  met  with,  but  they  are 
not  indigenous :  even  these  Rome  must  conquer  and  lay  its 
warlike  hands  upon  and  affect  to  enjoy.  In  the  moral  sphere 
the  Roman  virtus  has  to  be  contrasted  with  the  /cakoKayaOia 
of  the  Greek. 

With  all  their  great  qualities,  and  in  perfect  consistency 
with  them,  it  is  yet  true,  as  Ihne  says  (i.  120),  ‘they  were  a 
cold,  calculating,  selfish  people,  without  enthusiasm  or  the 
power  of  awakening  enthusiasm,  distinguished  by  self-control 
and  an  iron  will  rather  than  by  the  graces  of  character.  They 
were  proud,  overbearing,  cruel,  and  rapacious.’ 

I  may  fitly  conclude  the  preceding  survey  of  Roman 
characteristics  in  the  well-known  lines  of  Vergil  (‘  iEneid,’ 
vi.  847) : 

Others,  I  ween,  with  happier  grace 
From  bronze  or  stone  shall  call  the  face, 

Plead  doubtful  causes,  map  the  skies, 

And  tell  when  planets  set  or  rise. 

But  ye,  my  Romans,  still  control 
The  nations  far  and  wide  ; 

Be  this  your  genius  —  to  impose 
The  rule  of  Heaven  on  vanquished  foes, 

Show  pity  to  the  humbled  soul, 

And  crush  the  sons  of  pride.1 

Conington* s  translation. 

1  Excudent  alii  spirantia  mollius  sera, 

Credo  equidem,  vivos  ducent  de  marmore  vultus, 

Orabunt  caussas  inelius,  cselique  meatus 
Describent  radio  et  surgentia  sidera  dicent : 

Tu  regere  imperio  populos,  Eomane,  memento  ; 

Hse  tibi  erunt  artes  ;  pacisque  imponere  morem 
Parcere  subjectis  et  debellare  superbos. 


318 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Wealth  and  the  lust  and  luxury  of  power  ultimately  de¬ 
stroyed  the  distinctively  Roman  character,  although  round  it 
there  still  hovered  an  imperial  magnificence.  No  nation  has 
yet  been  found  which  has  been  able  to  resist  the  insidious 
inroads  of  abounding  wealth  —  especially  when  that  is  con¬ 
centrated  (as  seems  to  be  inevitable),  in  the  hands  of  a  small 
minority  of  the  citizens.  There  arises  a  rivalry  in  self- 
indulgence  and  ostentation  among  the  few  and  a  deep-seated 
discontent  among  the  many.  The  latter  are  indifferent  to 
the  maintenance  of  the  commonwealth ;  the  former  are  pre¬ 
occupied  with  personal  aims  and  ambitions.  In  presence  of 
the  appetite  for  self-aggrandisement,  civic  virtues  and  public 
spirit  gradually  disappear,  and  the  nation  is  doomed,  for  it 
has  lost  the  moral  energy  that  made  it.  Where  each  seeks 
his  own  things  and  not  also  those  of  another,  the  community 
of  feeling  which  constitutes  a  commonwealth  is  gone.  There 
exists  a  veiled  internecine  war  which  must  make  the  State 
an  easy  prey  to  external  foes,  unless  it  be  saved  by  an  inter¬ 
nal  revolution.  We  may,  in  the  passing  fashion  of  the  hour, 
talk  of  a  state  being  an  organism,  but,  after  all,  it  is  a  mass 
of  individuals ;  and  it  is  only  by  the  education  of  these  in¬ 
dividuals  and  the  maintenance  of  the  sanctity  of  the  individ¬ 
ual  family  that  we  can  hope  permanently  to  sustain  public 
virtue  and  uphold  an  empire.  Take  care  of  individuals 
and  the  family,  and  the  (so-called)  ‘  organism  ’  will  take  care 
of  itself. 


CHAPTER  II 

HISTORICAL  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ROMAN  EDUCATION 

What  means  now  did  the  Boman  take  for  maintaining  his 
greatness  by  educating  those  who  were  to  bear  the  burden  of 
the  state  after  their  fathers  had  passed  away  ? 

I  shall  first  answer  the  question  very  generally  in  the 
words  of  Cicero,  who  says :  ‘  Among  the  Greeks  some  devote 
themselves  with  their  whole  soul  to  the  poets,  others  to 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  319 


geometers,  others  to  musicians,  others  again,  like  the  Dialec¬ 
ticians,  open  up  to  themselves  a  new  sphere  of  activity  and 
devote  their  whole  time  and  life  to  the  arts  which  mould  the 
mind  of  youth  to  humanity  and  virtue.  The  children  of  the 
Romans,  on  the  other  hand,  are  brought  up  that  they  may 
one  day  be  able  to  be  of  service  to  the  fatherland,  and  one 
must  accordingly  instruct  them  in  the  customs  of  the  state 
and  in  the  institutions  of  their  ancestors.  The  fatherland 
has  produced  and  brought  us  up  that  we  may  devote  to  its 
use  the  finest  capacities  of  our  mind,  talent,  and  understand¬ 
ing.  Therefore  we  must  learn  those  arts  whereby  we  may 
be  of  greatest  service  to  the  state,  for  that  I  hold  to  be  the 
highest  wisdom  and  virtue/  The  humanities  and  learning, 
art  and  the  beautiful,  these  were  not  the  motive  forces  of 
Roman  education  as  they  had  been  among  the  Greeks,  but 
rather  those  arts  which  might  be  of  political  service.  Har¬ 
monious  development,  culture  —  either  of  mind  or  body  — 
for  its  own  sake  was  an  idea  alien  to  the  Roman  mind.  It 
was  only  when  the  seeds  of  decay  had  been  already  sown 
that  Hellenic  aims  and  Hellenic  culture  found  a  place ;  and 
then  only  partially.  The  practical  Roman  life  was  essentially 
opposed  to  the  Greek  aesthetic  life. 

It  is  necessary  to  speak  of  the  education  of  Rome  in  suc¬ 
cessive  periods. 

First  National  Period  —  to  303  B.c. 

In  his  home,  in  the  forum,  and  in  military  exercises,  the 
Roman  boy  for  the  first  four  or  five  centuries  of  the  Republic 
found  his  education,  and  any  account  of  this  must  necessarily 
be  a  mere  repetition  of  what  has  been  already  written  on  the 
religious,  social,  and  civil  life  of  Rome.  Such  reading  and 
writing  as  were  necessary  for  affairs  were  in  some  instances 
acquired  from  adventure  teachers  during  this  period,  but  it 
would  appear  that  they  were  chiefly  acquired  in  the  home. 
The  education  of  the  Roman  boy  was  simply  the  education 
which  home-life,  citizenship,  and  the  observance  of  ancestral 
tradition  gave  him.  As  the  fathers  and  mothers,  so  the 


320 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


sons  and  daughters.  Gravitas,  honestas,  fortitudo,  prudentia, 
justitia  —  these  were  the  words  which  summed  up  the  vir 
bonus  and  to  these  the  young  Roman  was  trained. 

In  the  Home.  — The  laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables  (confirm¬ 
ing  previous  usage)  required  that  a  misformed  infant  should 
be  killed,  but  the  father  could  decide  this  question  only  with 
the  help  of  a  council  of  his  nearest  male  relatives.  There 
was,  however,  no  law  against  the  exposure  of  infants,  and 
this  was  practised  under  the  general  rights  which  the  father 
had;  but  it  would  not  appear  to  have  been  so  much  the 
usage  as  among  the  Greeks.  In  later  times,  infants  whom  it 
was  desired  to  get  rid  of  were  often  placed  before  the  Temple 
of  Pietas  —  which  thus  might  he  regarded  as  a  kind  of  creche 
for  foundlings.  In  374  A.D.  exposure  was  prohibited  by  law 
(Cod.  Justin,  viii.  52,  2)  ;  but  the  law  was  ineffectual. 
Ussing  points  out  that  Hierocles  in  the  fifth  century  com¬ 
plains  of  the  continuance  of  the  practice. 

Mothers  suckled  their  own  children  until  about  the  time 
that  Greek  customs  began  to  penetrate  Roman  society.  Wet- 
nurses  (almost  always  slaves,  often  Greeks)  were  then 
employed.  On  the  ninth  day  after  his  birth  the  hoy,  and  on 
the  eighth  the  girl  (Krause,  p.  236),  received  their  names 
( dies  lustricus)  ;  this  was  also  the  ‘  naming  ’  day  (dies  nomi- 
num'),  and  there  was  a  family  feast  and  dancing.  The 
religious  ceremonial,  the  naming,  and  the  festival,  were  all 
at  the  same  time.  The  child  was  thereafter  registered.  A 
box  or  ball,  with  an  amulet  enclosed,  was  hung  round  the 
child’s  neck  to  preserve  it  from  magical  arts  and  the  evil  eye. 
This  bulla  was  of  gold  in  the  case  of  children  of  the  higher 
ranks. 

The  children  had  their  games,  to  a  large  extent  of  the 
same  kind  as  those  common  among  the  Greeks.  The  amuse- 
ments  of  the  hoys,  however,  seem  to  have  been  chiefly  games 
of  various  kinds  with  the  hall. 

His  mother,  and  afterwards  his  father,  trained  the  Roman 
boy  and  not  a  slave-pedagogue,  and,  even  when  a  pedagogue 
was  employed,  the  maternal  supervision  was  not  intermitted, 


THE  ARYAN  OF  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  321 


during  all  the  earlier  centuries  at  least ;  and,  in  the  best 
houses,  not  till  towards  the  end  of  the  Republic. 

The  child,  let  us  remember,  was  under  the  influence  of  a 
mother  who  was  assigned  her  true  place  at  the  head  of  the 
household.  The  severe  discipline  and  magisterial  authority 
of  the  father  were  supplemented  by  the  milder  moral  influ¬ 
ence  of  the  mother,  while  the  reverence  shown  to  the  house¬ 
hold  gods  in  the  various  ordinary  acts  of  daily  life  tended  to 
evoke  that  feeling  of  veneration  and  religiosity  which  was 
characteristic  of  the  Roman. 

The  boy  exchanged  the  toga  'prcetexta  for  the  toga  virilis 
about  the  sixteenth  year,  when  his  name  was  formally  con¬ 
firmed.  He  entered  thus  early  on  the  responsibilities  of  man¬ 
hood.  This  change  was  made  with  great  ceremony,  both 
domestic  and  public,  and  accompanied  (like  other  Roman 
acts)  by  domestic  religious  rites,  temple  sacrifices,  and  a 
family  festival.  The  youth’s  name  was  now  enrolled  among 
the  citizens.  The  education  thenceforth  was  the  education 
of  public  life,  including  military  exercises ;  hut  the  home 
education  and  influence  never  ceased. 

On  festival  and  religious  occasions,  and  in  solemn  banquets, 
the  youth  was  accustomed  in  the  earlier  centuries  to  assist 
in  chanting  the  national  songs,  and  may  he  said  thereby  to 
have  acquired  the  elements  of  poetry  and  music ;  but  they 
were  the  barest  elements.  Later  in  the  history  of  the  Repub¬ 
lic,  the  singing  and  chanting  seem  to  have  been  performed 
by  a  specially  hired  class.  Music  was  not,  as  among  the 
Greeks,  a  domestic  institution  and  an  alleviator  of  daily  life. 
Nor  was  the  purely  practical  direction  of  the  Roman  training 
counteracted  by  their  religion  as  it  might  have  been ;  for 
this  too,  as  we  have  seen,  was  narrow,  always  closely  con¬ 
nected  with  the  hourly  needs  of  the  individual,  the  family, 
and  the  state.  Being  the  growth  of  the  abstract  understand¬ 
ing,  it  did  not  yield  materials  for  the  poetic  imagination  and 
the  free  growth  of  ideal  aims.  Youths,  after  assuming  the 
toga  virilis ,  were  a  great  deal  in  the  company  of  their  fathers 
in  the  street  and  forum,  and  learned  in  this  way  the  duties 

21 


322 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


of  a  man  and  a  citizen  ;  ‘  virtutis  enim,’  says  Cicero  (‘  De  Off.’ 
i.  6),  ‘laus  omnis  in  actione  consistit.’ 

The  chief  education,  in  brief,  which  the  Eoman  boy 
received  was  the  moral  and  religious  training  of  home,  and 
free  intercourse  with  his  father  and  mother.  The  religion  of 
the  hearth,  as  I  have  said,  was  the  centre-point  of  the  religion 
of  the  Eoman,  and  the  education  was  the  education  of  the 
hearth.  In  religion  a  high  standard  of  observance  was  main¬ 
tained.  Pietas,  the  ethical  basis  of  the  family,  extended  to 
the  gens,  and  thus  a  reflected  influence  on  home  training  was 
felt.  We  see  here  in  operation  that  family  education  which 
Plutarch,1  writing  100  years  after  the  birth  of  Christ, 
strongly  advocates  for  all,  up  to  the  age  at  which  they  are  fit 
to  attend  the  higher  schools.  What  Sparta  aimed  at  giving 
through  its  public  system,  and  compulsorily,  the  Eoman 
aimed  at  giving  through  the  parents,  and  freely :  that  is  to 
say,  he  was  content  with  this,  because  we  cannot  say  that 
there  was  any  conscious  aim.  The  result  was  that  the 
Eoman  had  a  more  genuine  and  personal  morality  than 
the  Spartan. 

Thus  during  the  first  centuries  of  Eoman  life  down  to 
about  303  B.c.  the  education  was  domestic,  civic,  and  military. 
In  its  domestic  relations  it  was  profoundly  religious.  The 
sense  of  duty  to  moral  law,  to  paternal  authority,  and  to 
the  state,  was  ever  present  to  the  child  and  the  boy.  There 
was  no  element  of  joy  or  love  in  the  moral,  any  more  than  in 
the  religious,  life.  There  was,  however,  a  deep  sense  of 
spiritual  powers  external  to  man  which  might  be  pleased  or 
displeased  by  right  or  wrong  conduct  in  every  act  of  daily 
life,  and  this  constituted  that  ‘ conscience’  of  which  the  old 
Eoman  religion  was  a  formal  and  habitual  recognition.2 

The  literary  education  of  the  boys  must  have  been  wholly 
confined,  during  the  period  of  which  we  are  speaking,  to 
religious  hymns  and  national  songs  —  those  early  lays  of 
which  Cicero  mourns  the  loss,  and  to  which  I  have  adverted 

1  Authorship  of  the  essay  in  Plutarch’s  works  doubtful. 

2  Pater’s  Marius  the  Epicurean. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  323 


above.  Schools  are  indeed  mentioned  in  which  the  simple 
arts  of  reading  and  writing  were  acquired.  The  daughter  of 
Virginius  is  represented  as  frequenting  one  of  these,  305  B.c. 
(Livy,  iii.  44),  *  Yirgini  venienti  in  forum  —  ibi  namque  in 
tabernis  literarum  ludi  ercint  —  minister  decemviri  libidinis 
manum  injecit.’  Tabernce  were  a  kind  of  booths  open  to  the 
street.  Nor  is  there  any  reason  to  doubt  that  many  such 
schools  existed.  In  the  time  of  Camillus  we  find  mention  of 
a  teacher  of  boys  at  Falerii  (for  the  liberi  principum,  Livy,  v. 
27) 1 ;  and  this  confirms  our  conclusion  that  there  was  a  con¬ 
siderable  number  of  adventure  elementary  schools  {ludi)  prior 
to  303  B.c.  at  Lome,  as  well  as  among  Sabines  and  Etruscans. 
They  were  generally  taught  by  slaves  or  freedmen. 

But,  as  we  might  expect  from  the  domestic  character  of 
Roman  training,  it  is  probable  that  when  reading  and  writing 
were  taught,  they  were  taught  in  the  family  and  by  the 
father.  This  is  the  only  explanation  of  the  wide  diffusion  of 
these  elementary  arts.  In  any  case,  whether  by  domestic 
teaching  or  otherwise,  reading  and  writing,  so  far  as  required 
for  purposes  of  utility,  were,  at  least  from  the  fourth  century 
B.c.,  widely  known  among  certain  classes  of  Roman  citizens 
—  probably  as  widely  known  as  they  were  in  civilised  Europe 
in  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Livy  says  that 
Roman  boys  used  to  be  instructed  in  Etruscan  literature  just 
as  in  his  time  they  were  instructed  in  Greek  (?). 

The  young  men  practised  gymnastic  exercises,  but  solely 
with  a  view  to  military  fitness,  in  the  Campus  Martius.  Sing¬ 
ing,  music,  and  dancing  were  all  alien  to  the  Roman  and, 
indeed,  despised  by  him.  0 

Second  National  Period.  —  303  b.c.  to  148  B.c.  (Death 
of  Cato). 

Till  about  250  B.c.  Roman  education  remained  sub¬ 
stantially  the  same  as  in  the  preceding  centuries.  But 
during  the  preceding  fifty  years  a  certain  development  had 

1  Schola  does  not  occur  in  the  sense  of  a  school  till  the  later  imperial  times. 
The  word  for  a  school  was  Indus  or  Indus  literarius. 


324 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


taken  place.  Two  historical  facts  we  must  take  as  our  guide. 
First  of  all,  in  260  B.C.,  Plutarch  tells  us  that  Spurius  Car- 
vilius,  a  freedman  who  had  been  domestic  tutor  to  the  Consul 
Carvilius,  opened  a  school  and  was  the  first  to  take  fixed  fees 
for  his  instruction.  This  school  Plutarch  calls  a  7 pa/jL/iaro- 
•  SiSaa/caXelov.  Was  he  a  primary  teacher — a  grammatist 
( literator ),  or  was  he  a  secondary  teacher  — a  grammaticus  ? 
Without  entering  into  the  discussion  of  this  question,  I 
would  simply  point  to  the  second  important  historical  fact. 
Prior  to  the  date  of  Carvilius’s  school  there  could  be  no 
literary  instruction,  because  there  was  no  literature.  It  is 
about  this  date  that  we  have  a  sudden  development  of  a 
national  literature,  by  the  help  of  Italo-Greeks  chiefly.  Cn. 
ISTsevius  of  Campania  was  born  273  B.c.,  and  wrote  a  histori¬ 
cal  poem  on  the  first  Punic  War  (probably  about  240  B.c.), 
twenty  years  after  Carvilius  opened  his  school.  He  also 
wrote  dramas  and  epigrams  based  on  Greek  literature.  Then 
Livius  Andronicus  (a  freedman  from  Tarentum),  who  died 
203  b.c.,  wrote  a  translation  into  Latin  of  the  ‘  Odyssey’ — let 
us  say  also  about  240  b.c.  ;  Quintus  Ennius,  et  sapiens,  et 
fortis }  born  240  B.c.  (also  like  Nsevius  from  Campania),  laid 
the  foundation  of  Roman  epic  in  his  ‘  Annals,’  let  us  say 
about  200  b.c.  ;  Pacuvius  (born  220  b.c.),  a  nephew  of  En¬ 
nius,  wrote  dramas  full  of  Roman  national  feeling,  and  he 
was  followed  by  the  great  comedian  Plautus.  Are  we  to 
suppose  that  Nsevius  and  Andronicus,  without  any  literary 
precursors,  all  at  once  gave  literary  form  to  the  Latin  tongue 
about  240  b.c.  ?  Is  it  not  more  probable  that  when  Carvilius 
opened  his  school  in  260  B.c.  and  taught  a  reformed  alphabet 
and  spelling,  Latin  had  taken  shape,  and  that  not  only  tra¬ 
ditionary  fables  were  instruments  of  education  but  also  con¬ 
temporary  Latinity  in  the  form  of  public  records,  not  to  speak 
of  the  Twelve  Tables,  which  were  in  good  literary  form  ? 2 

1  Horace,  Ejp.  ii.  1,  where  see  a  list  of  early  writers  more  or  less  characterised. 

2  Horace  helps  us  here  — 

‘  fcedera  regum 

Vel  Gabiis  vel  cum  rigidis  sequata  Sabinis, 

Pontificum  libros,  aunosa  volumina  vatum,’  &c.  Ep.  11.  i.  24. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  325 

Carvilius  would  thus  carry  his  pupils,  doubtless  a  select  few, 
further  in  the  study  of  Latin  than  was  possible  for  the  ordi¬ 
nary  primary  schoolmaster.  Accordingly,  he  was  a  gram- 
maticus.  Indeed,  if  this  had  not  been  the  case,  not  only  in 
the  school  of  Carvilius  but  in  other  schools,  for  whom  did 
ISTsevius  and  Andronicus  write  ?  They  must  have  had  an 

*j 

audience.  We  know,  also,  that  the  rude  Atellan  Fables  had 
before  this  given  place  to  the  higher  dramatic  form  of  the 
Satura. 

It  appears  to  me  that  we  must  conclude  that  in  260  B.c. 
and  onwards  there  was  gradually  growing  up  in  the  ordinary 
ludi  a  higher  linguistic  education  than  had  yet  been  known. 
Acquaintance  with  Greek  had  been  common,  though  not 
general,  before  this  date,  for  we  know  that  Postumius,  am¬ 
bassador  to  Tarentum  so  early  as  282  B.c.,  addressed  an 
assembly  there  in  the  Greek  tongue.  The  frivolous  audience 
laughed  at  his  blunders  it  is  true,  but  it  was  no  common  feat 
to  address  a  formal  oration  to  Greeks  in  their  own  tongue. 
The  increasing  intercourse  with  Magna  Grsecia  and  Sicily, 
and  with  the  Greek  colonies  of  the  Mediterranean  generally, 
had,  in  fact,  made  Greek  familiar  as  the  language  both  of 
commerce  and  diplomacy,  and  given  it  an  early  footing  in 
Rome.  Greek  slaves  and  freedmen  were  employed  to  teach 
the  language  conversationally  to  the  children  of  the  wealthier 
citizens,  and  to  act  as  secretaries.  Along  with  conversational 
Greek,  the  Roman  youth  now  also  had  the  laws  of  the  Twelve 
Tables  for  a  text-book,  and  these  as  a  chant  (carmen  neces- 
sarium )  had  to  be  learnt  by  heart.  So  the  Spartan  and 
Cretan  boys,  it  will  be  remembered,  said  or  chanted  their 
laws.  Reading  and  writing  were  more  widely  diffused  than 
in  previous  generations,  and  ludi  had  increased  in  number. 
Traditionary  songs  in  praise  of  heroes  also  were  learnt  by 
heart  and  chanted,  declamation  and  modulation  of  tone 
always  receiving  great  attention. 

Education  in  the  true  sense,  however,  was  not  in  the 
hands  of  the  school-teacher,  but  was  mainly  domestic  as 
in  the  previous  centuries.  It  depended  on  the  character 


326 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


of  the  father  and  mother,  and  the  spirit  that  animated 
public  life.  Conservative  tradition  governed  it.  It  has 
been  well  remarked  that  the  less  imagination  a  people 
has  the  more  is  it  governed  by  tradition ;  and  tradition 
governed  the  unimaginative  Roman.  The  boys  were 
brought  up  in  the  disciplina  vetus,  the  manners  and  cus¬ 
toms  of  ancestors  being  held  in  reverence.  Moribus  anti - 
quis  stat  res  Iiomana  virisque  (Ennius  in  Cic.  ‘De  Rep.’  5). 
There  was  no  suggestion  of  a  state  system  as  in  Sparta 
whereby  to  mould  the  youth  into  citizens  of  a  certain  type, 
and  yet  severity  and  dignity  of  life  were  maintained;  but 
this  wholly  through  the  family  and  by  the  power  of  trans¬ 
mitted  custom.  This  would  not  have  been  possible  with¬ 
out  the  existence  of  a  hereditary  aristocracy  protecting  itself 
by  marriage  laws  from  admixture  with  plebeians.  A  native 
literature  did  not  exist,  except  in  the  form  of  heroic  songs 
and  public  records,  rude  fables,  and  satires  cast  in  a  rough 
dramatic  form. 

It  was  now  that  the  Italo-Greek  Livius  Andronicus,  above 
referred  to,  endeavoured  to  supply  the  want  of  a  literature 
by  translating  the  ‘  Odyssey  ’  into  Latin.  He  also  repro¬ 
duced  Greek  dramas  in  the  Latin  tongue.  The  ‘  Odyssey  ’ 
thereupon  became  a  text-book  and  was  studied,  and  large 
portions  of  it  learnt  by  heart,  by  the  Roman  youth.  This 
change,  which  was  in  point  of  fact  the  beginning  of  true 
literary  education  among  the  Romans,  began  about  233  B.c. 
—  Livius  Andronicus  died  before  213  B.c.  The  school  of 
Carvilius,  already  referred  to,  dates  from  about  260  B.c. 
Mommsen  says  (iii.  463),  ‘  The  place  of  the  Twelve  Tables 
was  taken  by  the  Latin  Odyssey  ’  (not  for  some  time  after 
this,  according  to  Cicero),  ‘  as  a  sort  of  improved  primer,  and 
the  Roman,  boy  was  .  .  .  trained  to  the  knowledge  and 
delivery  of  his  mother-tongue  by  means  of  this  translation, 
as  the  Greek  by  means  of  the  original;  noted  teachers  of 
the  Greek  language  and  literature,  Andronicus  and  others, 
who  already  probably  taught,  not  children  properly  so  called, 
but  boys  growing  up  to  maturity  and  young  men,  did  not 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  327 

disdain  to  give  instruction  in  the  mother-tongue  along  with 
the  Greek.’  These  were  the  first  steps  towards  a  higher 
Latin  instruction,  but  they  did  not  yet,  properly  speaking, 
constitute  such  an  instruction  in  any  large  sense.  Instruc¬ 
tion  in  a  language  cannot  manifestly  go  beyond  the  elemen¬ 
tary  stage  so  long  as  the  language  wants  a  literature.  ‘  Up 
till  that  time’  (233  b.c.),  says  Suetonius  (‘De  Gramm.’  i.) 
‘literature,  far  from  being  held  in  honour,  was  not  even 
known :  in  fact,  the  city,  rude  and  absorbed  in  war,  did 
not  yet  give  much  attention  to  the  liberal  arts.’ 

The  Latin  Odyssey  was  not  only  the  beginning  of  Roman 
literary  education  but  continued  to  be  taught  into  post¬ 
republican  times.  Horace  learned  it  in  the  school  of 
Orbilius,  and  Quintilian  favours  it. 

Literature  in  education,  and  with  it  Hellenism,  made 
steady  progress  during  the  whole  of  the  next  century,  and 
its  dominance  in  the  schools  may  be  fixed  at  the  date  of 
the  death  of  Cato  the  elder,  who  had  laboured  to  stem  its 
progress  (148  b.c.).  At  this  date,  too,  Macedonia  became 
a  Roman  province,  and  the  Second  Punic  War  and  the 
supremacy  of  the  Romans  in  Spain  were  already  past 
history. 

That  the  literary  education  of  the  young  Romans  had 
made  remarkable  progress  during  the  century  that  followed 
the  opening  of  Carvilius’s  school,  is  apparent  (apart  from 
other  ample  evidence 2)  from  the  reception  of  the  Athenian 
ambassadors,  Carneades  the  Academic  and  Diogenes  the 
Stoic,  by  the  Roman  youth  who  flocked  to  hear  them  dis¬ 
course  in  155  B.c.  Already,  as  Plutarch  tells  us  in  his  Life 
of  Cato,  oratory  was  much  studied  in  Rome,2  and  the  ambi¬ 
tious  among  the  young  men  were  prepared  to  hear  with  open 
ears  the  philosophic  teachings  of  the  Greeks.  Polybius, 
about  167  B.c.,  refers  to  the  number  of  capable  teachers  who 
resided  in  Rome.  In  this  year  also  (167  B.c.)  Crates  of 

1  For  example,  Scipio  and  other  leading  statesmen  preferred  to  write  in 
Greek. 

2  For  a  sketch  of  Roman  oratory  the  student  will  read  Cicero’s  ‘  Brutus.’ 


328 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Mallos  in  Cilicia,  a  Stoic  philosopher  and  a  man  of  great 
learning,  came  to  Koine  as  ambassador  of  King  Attalus.  He 
fell  into  an  open  sewer  and  broke  his  leg  (Suet,  ii.),  and  was 
consequently  compelled  to  remain  in  Borne  for  some  time. 
‘  During  the  whole  period  of  his  embassy  and  convalescence/ 
says  Suetonius,  ‘  he  gave  frequent  lectures,  taking  great  pains 
to  instruct  his  hearers,  and  he  has  left  us  an  example  worthy 
of  imitation.’ 

The  date  of  the  death  of  Cato  (148  B.c.)  completes  the 
second  period  of  Roman  life  and  education  ;  and  a  book 
which  he  wrote,  ‘  De  Liberis  educandis/  seems  to  have  illus¬ 
trated  the  genuine  practical  character  of  Roman  educational 
conceptions  in  their  strictest  sense.  It  doubtless  was  in¬ 
tended  as  a  protest  against  Hellenic  innovations.  The  Hel¬ 
lenic  idea  of  culture  had  not  yet  indeed  taken  root,  and  the 
words  in  Cicero  (‘  De  Republica/  i.  20)  were  still  applicable : 

—  ‘  Quid  esse  igitur  censes  discendum  nobis  V  To  which 
the  answer  is :  —  ‘  Eas  artes  quae  efficiant  ut  usui  civitati 
simus.’  The  book  by  Cato  was  intended  to  show  what  a  vir 
bonus  ought  to  be  as  orator,  physician,  husbandman,  warrior, 
and  jurist.  So  much  science  only  was  to  be  acquired  as  was 
necessary  for  practical  purposes.  Latin  grammar  was  not 
included,  and  this  shows  that  the  learned  had  not  yet  done 
much  for  the  grammatical  study  of  the  native  tongue. 
Music  and  the  mathematical  and  physical  sciences  were 
excluded.  Cato  used  to  say  that  ‘  Greek  literature  should  be 
looked  into,  but  not  thoroughly  studied.’  There  seems  after 
this  to  have  been  a  succession  of  books  of  a  similar  kind ; 
but  in  all  these,  knowledge  —  as  such  and  for  its  own  sake 

—  was  not  advocated.  Cato  is  spoken  of  by  Quintilian  as 
the  first  Roman  writer  on  pedagogy. 

During  this  second  period,  as  in  that  which  preceded  it,  it 
cannot  be  said  that  the  masses  of  the  people  (and  only  a  por¬ 
tion  of  them)  received  any  instruction  save  the  rudiments  of 
reading  and  writing.  Those  intended  for  mercantile  life 
continued  to  acquire  these  accomplishments,  and  they  were 
much  more  widely  diffused  (as  appeared  from  Cato’s  book) 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  329 


even  among  the  slaves,  than  we  can  now  well  explain  unless 
it  be  that  these,  for  the  most  part,  were  Greeks  or  Syro- 
Greeks.  Schools  were  still  what  we  call  ‘  adventure  ’  schools, 
and  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  differentiation  into  grammar 
or  secondary  schools  had  yet  taken  place,  although  teachers 
here  and  there  gave  advanced  or  secondary  instruction. 

On  the  whole  we  may  say  that  advanced  instruction  was 
chiefly  domestic  and  tutorial,  and  consequently  restricted  to 
the  upper  classes.  Spite,  however,  of  Hellenic  influence,  the 
mores,  consuetudines  et  instituta  majorum,  which  constituted 
the  vetus  discijplina,  still  animated  education.  The  Korean 
was  essentially  conservative.  The  word  *  educare  ’  when 
contrasted  with  the  Greek  TrcuSevetv  is  itself  instructive.  It 
means  to  train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go  —  the 
way,  viz.,  of  his  fathers ;  whereas,  the  Greek  word  has  in 
view  all  that  concerns  both  the  bodily  and  mental  growth  of 
the  boy.  Education,  in  this  Greek  sense,  can  hardly  he  said 
to  have  existed  at  the  time  of  Cato’s  death.  Polybius,  in¬ 
deed,  writing  about  this  time,  remarks  on  the  neglect  of 
education  among  the  Komans,  as  compared  with  the  attention 
paid  to  it  among  the  Greeks. 

To  sum  up.  We  are  justified  in  saying  that  literary  educa¬ 
tion  cannot  be  regarded  as  beginning  in  Rome  till  about  233 
B.c.  After  this  date,  there  seems  to  have  been  rapid  progress, 
owing  to  Greek  influence.  Note  also  that  the  Second  Punic 
War  ended  in  202  B.c.,  and  Rome  had  now  breathing  time. 
Her  power  was  finally  established,  and  she  was  on  her  way 
to  empire.  Macedon  was  conquered  168  B.c.  The  first 
library  was  erected  at  Rome  in  167  B.c.  Let  us  put  all  these 
facts  together  and  we  shall  accept  readily  Mommsen’s  con¬ 
clusion  that  ‘  even  in  the  time  of  Pictor  and  Cato  Greek  cul¬ 
ture  was  widely  diffused  at  Rome,  and  there  was  also  a  native 
culture.’ 

The  rapid  progress  which  education  made  in  Rome  is 
partly  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  a  recognised  scheme 
of  culture  already  existed  in  the  Hellenic  schools  of  Italy  and 
the  Mediterranean  cities  generally. 


330 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Third  National  Period.  — 148  B.c.  onwards  (Corinth 
destroyed  146  b.c.). 

We  now  come  to  the  third  period  of  Boinan  intellectual 
life  and  education.  After  148  B.c.  it  could  no  longer  be  said 
to  be  specifically  Boman  at  all.1  It  was  Greek  education  as 
influenced  and  coloured  by  the  Boman  character  and  aims. 
It  embraced  not  only  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages  and 
literature,  but  music  and  geometry.  After  the  conquest  of 
Macedonia,  twenty  years  before  (167  B.c.),  the  intellectual 
traffic  between  Greece  and  Borne,  already  considerable,  was 
greatly  augmented,  and,  from  this  time  forward,  Greek  lan¬ 
guage  and  literature  were  regarded  as  indispensable  elements 
in  the  higher  education.  Less  than  fifty  years  after  the 
death  of  the  great  conservative  Boman,  Hellenism,  already 
dominant  in  148  B.c.,  was  now  triumphant.  Cicero  (born 
106  B.c.)  tells  us  that  at  the  beginning  of  his  life  the  ancient 
education  had  been  wholly  overthrown. 

The  extent  to  which  the  cycle  of  general  culture  had 
changed  in  the  Boman  world  during  the  course  of  a  century, 
is  shown  by  a  comparison  of  the  Encyclopaedia  of  Cato  with 
the  similar  treatise  of  Yarro,  ‘concerning  school  sciences.’2 
As  constituent  elements  of  professional  culture  there  appeared 
in  Cato  the  art  of  oratory,  the  sciences  of  agriculture,  of  law, 
of  war,  and  of  medicine ;  in  Yarro,  the  ‘  most  learned  of  the 
Bomans’  (born  116  B.c.),  there  appeared  grammar,  logic  or 
dialectics,  rhetoric,  geometry,  arithmetic,  astronomy,  music, 
medicine,  and  architecture.  This  scheme  of  knowledge  rests 
on  a  wholly  Hellenic  conception. 

And  yet  we  cannot  say  that  secondary  schools  taught  by 
grammatici  existed  earlier  than  148  years  B.c.  Before  that 
date,  some  of  the  ordinary  ludi  may  have  carried  boys  be¬ 
yond  the  limits  of  a  primary  education.  In  all  countries  we 
find  this  transition  period.  But  we  are  not  entitled  to  go 
behind  the  authority  of  Suetonius,  who  tells  us  that  Crates 
introduced  the  study  of  grammar  at  Borne.  I  speak  only  of 

1  Lucilius,  the  satirist,  was  born  in  1 47  b.c. 

2  So  far  as  the  contents  of  these  books  are  now  known. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  331 


schools :  that  advanced  instruction  was  given  by  Greek 
tutors  in  families  we  know.  Progress  was  now,  however,  very 
rapid.  About  140  B.c.  there  were,  according  to  Suetonius 
(‘De  Gram/  iii.),  more  than  twenty  celebrated  grammatici  at 
Pome,  all,  it  is  presumed,  teaching. 

The  higher  education  also,  which  was  summed  up  by  the 
one  word  Oratory,  seems  to  have  begun  to  flourish  about  the 
same  time,  taught  by  Greeks  in  Greek  to  those  who  could 
follow  them.  It  was  towards  the  middle  of  the  seventh 
century  (100  B.c.),  that  the  eminent  orators  Marcus  Antonius 
and  Lucius  Crassus  flourished,  and  twenty  or  thirty  years 
before  them  the  Gracchi.  These  men  must  have  begun  their 
education  as  boys  about  the  beginning  of  the  third  period. 
They  could  speak  Greek  and  hold  discussions  in  it.  A 
decree  of  the  senate  (161  B.c.)  directed  against  the  rhetori¬ 
cians  and  philosophers  had  failed  to  arrest  the  higher  educa¬ 
tion  in  its  beginnings ;  and  the  censorial  edict  against  the 
higher  schools  so  late  as  112  B.c.  was  a  brutum  fulmen.  It 
was,  however,  the  philosophy  of  the  Greeks,  and  not  their 
literature,  that  the  more  conservative  among  the  Romans 
most  dreaded.  There  was  also  not  a  little  distrust  of  the 
Greek  character,  and  that  not  without  reason.  Greek  art 
and  artists  followed  close  on  the  heels  of  Greek  rhetoric.  It 
was  about  this  time  also  that  the  women  of  the  higher  classes 
began  to  participate  in  the  Hellenistic  education. 

What  Cato  foresaw  had  now  come.  It  had  been  hastened 
doubtless  by  the  number  of  Greek  scholars  who  found  their 
way  to  Rome  after  the  fall  of  Corinth  (146  B.c.) ;  among 
these  there  were  philosophical  and  rhetorical  teachers  of 
considerable  pretensions.  The  decree  of  the  senate  and  the 
edict  of  the  censor  above  referred  to,  are  so  interesting  in  the 
history  of  education  generally,  that  I  shall  quote  fully  what 
Suetonius  (‘  De  Rhet/  i.)  says  : 

‘  Rhetoric  also,  as  well  as  grammar,  was  not  introduced 
amongst  us  till  a  late  period,  and  with  still  more  difficulty, 
inasmuch  as  we  find  that,  at  times,  the  practice  of  it  was 
even  prohibited.  In  order  to  leave  no  doubt  of  this  I  will 


332 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


subjoin  an  ancient  decree  of  the  senate  as  well  as  an  edict  of 
the  censors  :  “  In  the  consulship  of  Caius  Eannius  Strabo  and 
Marcus  Valerius  Messala,1  the  praetor  Marcus  Pomponius 
moved  the  senate  that  an  act  be  passed  respecting  philoso¬ 
phers  and  rhetoricians.  In  this  matter  they  have  decreed  as 
follows :  c  It  shall  be  lawful  for  M.  Pomponius,  the  praetor,  to 
take  such  measures  and  make  such  provisions  as  the  good  of 
the  republic  and  the  duty  of  his  office  require,  that  no  philoso¬ 
phers  or  rhetoricians  be  suffered  in  Rome.’  ”  After  some 
interval,  the  censor  Cnaeus  Domitius  iEnobarbus  and  Lucius 
Licinius  Crassus  issued  the  following  edict  upon  the  same 
subject.  “  It  is  reported  to  us  that  certain  persons  have  insti¬ 
tuted  a  new  kind  of  discipline  ;  that  our  youth  resort  to  their 
schools  ;  that  they  have  assumed  the  title  of  Latin  rhetori¬ 
cians  ;  and  that  young  men  waste  their  time  there,  whole  days 
together.  Our  ancestors  have  ordained  what  instruction  it 
is  fitting  their  children  should  receive,  and  what  schools  they 
should  attend.  These  novelties,  contrary  to  the  customs  and 
instructions  of  our  ‘ancestors,  we  neither  approve  nor  do  they 
appear  to  us  good.  Wherefore  it  appears  to  be  our  duty  that 
we  should  notify  our  judgment  both  to  those  who  keep  such 
schools  and  those  who  are  in  the  practice  of  frequenting 
them,  that  they  meet  our  disapprobation.”  However,  by  slow 
degrees,  rhetoric  manifested  itself  to  be  a  useful  and  honour¬ 
able  study,  and  many  persons  devoted  themselves  to  it  both 
as  a  means  of  defence  and  of  acquiring  reputation.’ 

Many  native  Romans  also  now  began  to  cultivate  the 
scholastic  field,  and  it  became  the  fashion  to  study  N aevius, 
Ennius,  and  Lucilius  in  the  schools,  and  to  comment  on  these 
authors  critically.  The  education  which  had  humanitas,  or 
culture,  in  the  Roman  sense,  for  its  aim  was  thus  finally 
established,  let  us  say  about  625  A.u.c.  at  latest,  i.  e.  128  B.c. 
The  first  formal  instruction  in  Latin  rhetoric  and  oratory  by 
a  Roman  was  given  (but  not  for  pay)  about  128  B.c.,  the 
year  we  have  named.  His  name  was  Lucius  iElius  Praecon- 
inus  of  Lanuvium,  commonly  called  ‘  The  Penman’  (Stilo),  a 

1  This  senatus  consultum  was  made  161  b.c. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  333 


distinguished  Roman  knight.  But  it  is  only  as  a  purely 
Latin  rhetor  that  we  can  call  him  the  first,  for  Greek  rhetori¬ 
cians  taught  long  before  this.1 

Personal  superintendence  of  the  boys  of  the  wealthier 
classes  had  been  to  a  large  extent  and  for  some  time  before 
this  handed  over  to  psedagogi  —  in  imitation  of  the  Greek 
custom.  These  were  also  called  ‘  custodes  ’  and  ‘  comites.’ 
They,  however,  did  not  instruct  the  boys  but  simply  acted 
as  guardians  and  attendants.  They  were  generally  Greek 
or  Syro-Greek  slaves  and  freedmen,  and  were,  for  the  most 
part,  selected  with  great  care.  The  object  the  parents  had 
in  view  was  not  only  a  moral  one,  but  conversational  fluency 
in  the  Greek  tongue. 

The  line  which  the  Hellenistic  studies  took  in  Rome  was 
grammatical  and  philological  rather  than  aesthetic,  and  in 
the  higher  schools  it  was  rhetorical.  The  more  ambitious 
minds  occupied  themselves  with  philosophical  questions, 
especially  on  the  lines  of  the  Academic  and  Stoic  philos¬ 
ophies  ;  but  even  the  study  of  philosophy  always  had  in 
view  the  practical  equipment  of  the  orator,  except  in  so  far 
as  it  afforded  material  for  intellectual  fence.  The  young 
Roman  had  at  all  periods  of  history  to  prepare  himself  for 
speech  in  the  forum  or  the  senate.  Oratory  was  not  only 
a  mark  of  culture,  but  also  a  weapon  of  offence  and  defence 
(‘  regina  rerum  oratio,’  says  Pacuvius).  Accordingly,  even 
now  when  both  Latin  and  Greek  literature  had  become 
fairly  established  as  part  of  the  ordinary  instruction,  both 
in  the  grammatical  and  rhetorical  schools,  the  acquisition  of 
oratory  still  governed  those  studies  which  were  primarily 
intended  to  cultivate  the  humanity  of  the  pupil  more 
Grcecorum.  Thus  true  to  its  own  instincts  did  Rome 
remain  even  when  the  narrow  ancient  life  was  beginning 
to  disappear.  It  is  true  that  the  laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables 

1  Quintilian  tells  us  (ii.  4.  42)  on  the  authority  of  Cicero,  that  the  first 
eminent  Latin  rhetor  who  taught  by  the  method  of  fictitious  pleadings  in  the 
school  was  Plotius,  towards  the  end  of  the  life  of  Licinius  Crassus  and  about 
the  same  time  as  the  first  school  of  Roman  literature  was  opened  by  Nicanor 
Postumus  (93  b.c.). 


334 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


were  no  longer  used  as  a  text-book,  that  the  old  domestic 
education  was  maintaining  itself  with  difficulty,  and  that 
Latin  and  Greek  literature  now  formed  the  basis  of  all  edu¬ 
cation  ;  but  the  chief  aim  of  the  literary  education  was 
always  oratory,  not  pure  literature.  The  study  of  rhetoric, 
as  constituting  the  highest  education  of  youth,  was  regarded 
as  not  merely  essential  to  the  formation  of  a  man,  ‘  ingenuus 
et  liberaliter  educatus,’  but  above  all  as  the  road  to  influence, 
power,  and  public  employment. 

We  now  see  virtually  established  in  the  last  period  of 
the  Eepublic,  i.e.  from  148  B.c.,  a  regular  course  of  instruc¬ 
tion  having  culture  or  humanitas  for  its  object,  but  always 
in  subservience  to  oratory  for  the  uses  of  public  life.  The 
curriculum  might  be  said  to  consist  of  three  stages  —  the 
primary,  in  which  reading  and  writing  of  Latin  and  Greek 
were  taught ;  then  the  grammatical  and  literary  instruction 
of  a  higher  and  philological  kind ;  finally  the  technical  and 
elaborate  study  of  rhetoric  and  the  art  of  forensic  orations, 
along  with  such  dialectic  and  philosophy  as  might  be 
available. 

It  was  to  the  Hellenic  victory  over  the  old  Boman  edu¬ 
cation  that  we  owe  Cicero,  Vergil,  Lucretius,  and  all  that 
brilliant  crowd  of  literary  men  who  adorned  the  last  century 
of  the  Eepublic  and  the  beginnings  of  the  empire.  Cicero 
was  born  106  B.c. ;  Lucretius  98  b.c.  ;  Vergil  70  b.c.  It  was 
only  now  that  Latin  finally  took  its  place  side  by  side  with 
Greek,  if  not  as  an  equal,  yet  as  an  honourable  rival. 

Csesar,  and  after  him  Augustus,  encouraged  and  protected 
the  professors  of  every  art,  and  many  now  took  to  literature 
and  philosophy  as  the  occupation  of  men  to  whom,  under  an 
imperial  system,  the  highest  political  activity  was  no  longer 
open.  While,  therefore,  we  may  regret  with  Cato,  and  at 
a  later  date  Tacitus,  the  decay  of  the  old  Boman  training, 
we  must  recognise  the  necessity  of  the  Hellenic  invasion  if 
a  larger  conception  of  the  ends  of  education  and  of  life  was 
ever  to  animate  the  Boman  mind.  The  importance  of  this 
fn  the  future  history  of  the  world  is  beyond  our  power  of 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  335 


estimating,  for  it  was  under  Roman  protection  and  under 
Imperial  power  that  all  the  nobler  arts  of  life  were  assured 
of  recognition  and  encouragement  in  every  corner  of  the 
civilised  world. 

And  yet  it  was  impossible  to  turn  a  Roman  into  a  Greek. 
He  remained  to  the  last  prosaic  and  practical.  The  Helleni- 
cised  few  to  whom  culture  pure  and  simple  was  an  aim, 
formed  a  kind  of  intellectual  aristocracy.  Even  in  the  time 
of  Augustus  we  find  Horace  fully  recognising  the  difference 
between  the  Roman  and  the  Greek  mind,  just  as  we  find  the 
same  recognition  in  the  passage  we  quoted  from  Cicero.  In 
the  ‘  Ep.  ad  Pisones,’  line  325,  Horace  1  contrasts  the  Greek 
genius  with  that  of  the  practical  Roman : 

4  To  the  Greeks  the  Muse  has  given  genius,  to  the  Greeks, 
ambitious  of  nothing  but  praise,  the  power  to  speak  with  elo¬ 
quence.  The  boys  of  Rome  learn  by  long  calculations  to  divide  a 
pound  into  a  hundred  parts.  “  Let  Albinus’  son  tell  me  what 
remains  if  from  five  ounces  one  is  taken.”  If  you  have  been  able 
to  answer  “  the  third  of  a  pound,”  well  done  ;  you  will  be  able  to 
look  after  your  own  estate.  Add  an  ounce,  what  is  the  sum? 
44  Half  a  pound.”  When  we  have  thus  imbued  their  minds  with 
the  canker  and  care  of  gain,  do  we  hope  that  they  will  compose 
poems  worthy  of  preservation,  worthy  of  being  preserved  in  cases 
of  cypress  ?  ’ 

1  Graiis  ingenium,  Graiis  dedit  ore  rotundo 
Musa  loqui,  prpeter  laudem  nullius  avaris. 

Romani  pueri  longis  rationibus  assem 
Discunt  in  partes  centum  diducere.  Dicat 
Filius  Albini  :  si  de  quincunce  remota  est 
Uncia,  quid  superat  ?  Poteras  dixisse,  Triens.  Eu  ! 

Rem  poteris  servare  tuam.  Redit  uncia,  quid  fit  ? 

Semis.  At  haec  animos  aerugo  et  cura  peculi 
Quum  semel  imbuerit,  speramus  carmina  fingi 
Posse  linenda  cedro  et  levi  seryanda  cupresso  ? 


336 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


CHAPTER  III 

CURRICULUM  OF  STUDY — SCHOOLS,  METHODS,  AND 

MASTERS 

I  shall  now  sum  up  briefly  the  course  of  instruction 
through  which  the  Roman  youth  were  carried  during  the 
third  or  Romano-Hellenic  period,  as  accurately  as  it  can 
be  ascertained. 


Primary  Instruction 

Up  to  the  sixth  or  seventh  year  the  child  remained  at 
home  under  his  mother  and  nurse,  and  under  the  protection 
of  a  pcedagogus.  His  elementary  instruction  then  began  either 
at  home  or  in  a  Indus  publicus  under  a  ludimagister  (gram- 
matist,  liter  a  tor),  where  he  learnt  to  read  and  write.  Indus 
was  the  word  confined  to  primary  schools ;  schola,  from  the 
Greek,  was  applied  to  higher  schools.1  Horace,  in  his  first 
book  of  Satires,  I.  vi.  72,  gives  a  picture  of  Italian  boys  going 
to  school.  His  father,  he  says,  ‘  was  unwilling  to  send  me 
to  the  ludus  of  Flavius,  whither  boys  the  offspring  of  great 
centurions  were  wont  to  go  with  their  satchels  ’  ( capsce  calcu- 
lorum,  says  Orelli,  i.e.  bags  for  holding  pebbles  to  count  with) 
‘  and  tablets,  carrying  their  fee  every  Ides,  but  had  the  spirit 
to  bring  his  boy  to  Rome  to  be  taught.’ 2 

In  learning  their  letters,  the  children  first  acquired  their 
names  and  their  sequence  by  heart  without  regard  to  their 

1  ‘Ludus’  was  a  place  for  exercise  of  any  kind,  e.g.  ‘Indus  militarist 
where  soldiers  were  exercised.  It  thus  was  naturally  used  for  the  place  to 
which  children  resorted  for  school  exercises.  (leisure  whicli  gave 

the  Latin  ‘schola,’  was  originally  used  by  the  Greeks  to  designate  a  place  for 
the  occupation  of  leisure,  and  so  gradually  was  applied  to  a  place  for 
philosophical  discussions. 

2  ‘  Noluit  in  Flavi  ludum  me  mittere  magni 
Quo  pueri  magnis  e  centurionibus  orti, 

Laevo  suspensi  loculos  tabulamque  lacerto, 

Ibant  octonis  referentes  Idibus  tera  ; 

Sed  puerum  est  ausus  Romam  portare  docendum,’  &c. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  337 


form  and  function,  a  practice  of  which  Quintilian  complains. 
Writing  was  begun  at  the  same  time  with  reading,  either  by 
copying  models  or  by  tracing  letters  inscribed  on  waxen 
tablets  or  graven  in  wood  —  the  teacher  at  first  guiding  the 
hand. 

The  details  of  the  work  done  in  a  Roman  primary  school 
are  not,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  accurately  known.  Simple 
reading  and  writing  and  very  elementary  calculation  were 
taught,  the  last  with  the  free  help  of  the  fingers  and  little 
stones  and  thereafter  on  waxen  tablets.  I  think  we  can  also 
say  for  certain  that  (as  in  the  Greek  schools)  attention  was 
paid  to  accentuation  and  elocution,  and  that  the  substance  of 
what  was  read  was  always  explained.  Gnomic  verses  con¬ 
taining  maxims  and  precepts  were  taken  down  and  com¬ 
mitted  to  memory.  The  reading-book  was  generally  the 
Latin  version  of  the  ‘  Odyssey/  Up  to  about  80  B.c.,  the 
laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables  were  learnt  by  heart.1 

Secondary  Instruction 

About  the  age  of  twelve  the  hoy  passed  into  the  school  of 
the  grammaticus  —  to  whom  the  epithets  ‘  doctus  ’  and 
‘  eruditus  ’  were  usually  applied. 

There  were  two  classes  of  grammatical  schools  —  the  Greek 
and  the  Latin.  It  was  the  general  custom  to  go  to  the 
former  first.  This  custom  was  approved  of  by  Quintilian. 
The  pupil,  when  he  entered,  usually  took  with  him  a  certain 
conversational  knowledge  of  Greek.  He  was  instructed  in 
grammar  in  the  narrower  sense,  learned  portions  of  Homer 
and  other  poets  by  heart,  and  was  introduced  to  the  critical 
study  of  literature  and  to  composition.  The  fables  of  HCsop 
were  popular  in  the  earlier  stages  of  instruction.  To  reading 

1  After  all  that  has  been  written  on  Roman  education,  the  precise  details 
of  work  in  the  primary  schools  are  by  no  means  certain.  Doubtless  it  varied 
as  it  has  done  in  our  own  country  and  depended  on  the  qualifications  of  the 
teacher  —  at  least  before  the  grammatical  or  secondary  schools  were  fully 
differentiated. 


22 


338 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


with  purity  of  diction  and  good  expression  much  importance 
was  now  attached. 

Dictation  was  largely  practised  with  a  view  to  correct 
spelling,  and  also  because,  by  means  of  dictation,  select  poems 
could  be  written  down  and  learnt  by  heart  when  the  com- 
plete  works  of  the  poets  could  not  be  had.  Even  when  rolls 
became  cheap,  this  practice  of  dictation  was  kept  up.  The 
rhetorician  even  dictated  his  system  of  rhetoric. 

The  Twelve  Tables  ceased  to  be  learned  by  heart  in  the 
lifetime  of  Cicero.1  Music  was  taught  with  a  view  chiefly 
to  rhythm  —  for  music  as  an  art  was  not  cultivated  at  Eome. 
The  employments  of  leisure  were  not  esteemed  there  —  the 
Roman  was  too  serious  and  practical  for  this.  The  musi¬ 
cians  employed  at  religious  festivals  were  paid  servants. 

As  to  writing,  it  seems  to  me  doubtful  whether  in  the  pri¬ 
mary  school  the  pupil  advanced  beyond  writing  with  the 
sharp-pointed  stylus  on  waxen  tablets ;  but  in  the  secondary 
schools  they  also  learned  to  write  on  parchment  or  papyrus 
with  pen  ( calamus )  and  ink  (atr  amentum).  In  these  schools, 
however,  and  even  in  the  schools  of  the  rhetoricians,  the 
waxen  tablet  was  constantly  in  use.  With  the  flat  head  of 
the  style  words  could  be  deleted  and  corrections  made. 

Grammatical  instruction  meant  in  Rome  ordinary  gram¬ 
mar  as  we  now  understand  it,  to  which  all  the  philology  of 
the  time  was  made  contributory  ;  also  literature  with  the  ex¬ 
planation  of  the  poets,  and  criticism.  The  full  explanation 
of  the  poets  was  also  the  recognised  medium  for  giving  gen¬ 
eral  information.  Thus,  outside  the  literary  text-books,  the 
instruction  which  the  Roman  boy  received  was  orally  com¬ 
municated.  He  was  dependent  on  his  master. 

The  Greek  and  Latin  grammar  schools,  were  distinct.  As 
a  rule,  I  have  said,  the  boy  went  first  to  the  Greek  school. 
Greek  was,  in  fact,  the  leading  study  of  the  secondary 
schools,  and  was  acquired  as  if  it  were  a  native  tongue. 
The  advanced  pupils  spoke  and  wrote  Greek.  But  from 

1  Cic.  De  Leg.  ii.  23:  ‘Discebamus  enim  pneri  XII.  ut  carmen  neces- 
sarium,  quas  jam  nemo  discit.’ 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  339 


about  90  B.c.,  if  not  sooner,  Latin  rhetoric,  i.e.  the  adapta¬ 
tion  of  Greek  rhetoric  to  the  Latin  language  and  oratory, 
began  also  to  be  taught.  By  that  time  there  was  a  Latin 
literature  and  not  a  few  orators,  and  the  language  had  been 
moulded  into  the  concise,  vigorous,  and  effective  organ  of 
speech  which  has  come  down  to  modern  Europe.  At  the 
same  time  it  was  not  unusual  for  the  advanced  pupils  to 
declaim  in  Greek  as  well  as  in  Latin.  If  they  had  not 
done  so,  they  could  not  have  benefited  by  the  criticism 
of  their  Greek  teachers  who,  for  the  most  part,  despised 
Latin. 

Geography  was  taught,  as  appears  from  a  line  of  Pro¬ 
pertius  (iv.  iii.  36),  ‘  Cogor  et  e  tabula  pictos  cognoscere 
mundos.’ 

To  the  course  of  instruction  in  the  grammar  schools  we 
have  to  add  music,  with  a  view  to  the  understanding  of 
metre ;  not  the  playing  on  an  instrument,  as  in  Greece.  The 
simple  singing  or  chanting  which  had  been  associated  with 
Roman  religion  and  celebration  of  heroes,  was  learned  from 
special  teachers  by  a  few,  but  only  with  a  view  to  proper  in¬ 
tonation  and  rhythm  in  oratory.  By  the  Roman  the  horn 
and  the  trumpet  were  preferred  to  the  lyre  and  cithara  which 
charmed  the  Greek. 

Arithmetic  was  taught ;  but  neither  in  the  secondary  or 
higher  education  was  it  the  theoretical  arithmetic  of  Plato, 
but  mere  calculation. 

Geometry  was  taught  by  a  specialist,  but  chiefly  in  its 
practical  relations  to  mensuration.  As  a  liberal  study  it  had 
for  the  Romans  no  attraction.  So  with  astronomy. 

Dancing  was  taught,  but  only  privately  in  the  homes  of 
the  pupils.  It  partook  very  much  of  the  nature  of  instruc¬ 
tion  in  calisthenics  and  ‘  deportment/  and  was  wholly  unlike 
our  modern  dancing.  The  possibility  of  young  men  and 
women  waltzing  together  at  a  public  assembly  would  have 
been  to  the  Roman  shocking,  had  it  not  been  inconceivable. 
Indeed,  Cicero  says  in  one  of  his  orations,  that  no  one  would 
dance  unless  he  were  either  drunk  or  mad. 


340 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Gymnastic  had  a  purely  hygienic  and  military  aim,  and 
only  those  who  had  assumed  the  toga  virilis  frequented  the 
Campus  Martius.  It  was  with  difficulty  the  Roman  ever 
understood  it  in  the  Hellenic  sense  of  a  free  discipline.  The 
gymnastic  of  the  Romans  had,  it  is  true,  towards  the  end  of 
the  Republic,  borrowed  a  good  deal  from  the  Greeks ;  but  the 
Campus  Martius  was  never  a  Greek  gymnasium,  but  essen¬ 
tially  a  military  exercising  ground. 

The  literati  or  grammatici  in  the  later  years  of  the  school 
curriculum  frequently  encroached  on  the  work  which 
properly  belonged  to  the  rhetoricians,  and  gave  exercises  in 
declamation  and  disputation,  great  attention  being  paid  at 
this  stage,  and,  indeed,  at  all  stages  of  school-teaching,  to 
pleasing  elocution. 

In  the  Roman  school  of  the  grammaticus  we  see  only  a 
repetition  of  the  Hellenic  school  after  it  was  fully  developed 
(let  us  say  in  the  third  century  B.C.).  The  differentiation 
into  primary  and  secondary  schools  had  now  taken  place 
everywhere.  It  is  this  developed  Hellenic  school  that  is 

known  as  the  Romano-Hellenic,  and  it  was  to  be  found  in  all 

* 

the  important  towns  of  the  Roman  Empire  down  to  the  fifth 
century  a.d.  But  in  all  things — even  in  the  study  of 
Greek  —  there  was  a  Roman  practical  aim,  while  in  all  sub¬ 
jects,  save  literature  and  what  bore  directly  on  the  full 
understanding  of  the  poets,  the  Roman  was  superficial 
and  utilitarian.  Might  we  not  say,  superficial  because 
utilitarian  ? 

The  further  education  of  the  youth  after  he  had  assumed 
the  toga  virilis  (generally  at  sixteen  years  of  age)  depended 
on  his  future  occupation.  Those  intended  for  a  farmer’s  life 
went  to  live  at  some  farm  station ;  those  intended  for  the 
army  passed  very  young  into  the  service ;  those  again  who 
were  intended  for  public  life  or  for  pleaders  and  jurists,  went 
to  the  rhetorical  schools  and  thereafter  attended  the  forum, 
the  comitia,  and  the  senate,  attaching  themselves  to  some 
approved  orator  or  jurist. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  341 


The  Higher  Instruction  —  Oratory 

In  the  rhetorical  schools  the  young  men  studied  rhetoric 
and  all  the  arts  which  could  make  an  effective  orator.  Cicero 
(‘De  Orat.’  iv.)  tells  us  that  hi  the  last  century  of  the 
Republic  ‘  no  studies  were  ever  pursued  with  more  earnest¬ 
ness  than  those  tending  to  the  acquisition  of  eloquence.’ 
These  studies,  as  being  linguistic  and  literary  in  the  widest 
sense,  gave  a  large  and  liberal  cultivation,  notwithstanding 
the  practical  aim.  It  was  held  that  to  be  a  ‘  true  orator  ’  a 
man  must  study  philosophy,  mathematics,  and,  in  fact, 
familiarise  himself  with  the  whole  encyclopaedia.  In  the 
schools  the  youths  wrote  declamations  on  prescribed  themes 
( theses  or  loci  communes )  and  delivered  them  with  proper 
accent  and  articulation.  They  conducted  also  fictitious  cases, 
taking  sides  in  the  dispute.  The  analysis  of  language  with 
a  view  to  mastering  all  its  forms  was  studied  (see  Cicero  ‘  De 
Oratore  ’  and  Quintilian).  Mathematics,  philosophy  (at  least 
towards  the  end  of  the  Republic)  and  law,  as  well  as  litera¬ 
ture,  entered  more  or  less  into  this  higher  curriculum ;  hut 
the  three  former  seem  to  have  been  studied  under  specialist 
teachers,  and  did  not  form  an  essential  part  of  the  higher 
instruction  with  the  majority  of  students.  It  was  only  in 
the  closing  period  of  the  Republic  that  native  history  began 
to  receive  attention.  In  short,  we  may  say  that  in  the  higher 
education  of  youths  who  aimed  at  some  form  of  public  life  — 
as  all  the  ambitious  among  the  well-to-do  did — -the  two 
words  ‘  law  ’  and  ‘  oratory  ’  practically  summed  up  their 
studies.  Philosophy  and  geometry,  which,  along  with  astron¬ 
omy,  included  in  those  days  the  whole  of  physical  science, 
were  merely  touched,  save  by  a  few  of  the  more  ardent.  In 
a  political  constitution  in  which  a  senate  or  a  popular  audi¬ 
ence  had  to  be  convinced,  oratory  was  the  great  instrument 
of  the  rising  politician ;  while  at  the  bar  it  was  of  supreme 
importance.  Even  when  the  Roman  began  to  philosophise 
seriously,  it  was  always  practical  ethical  studies  that  attracted 
him.  Some  substitute  had  to  be  found  for  national  tradition 


342 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


and  for  lost  gods.  But  in  its  larger  scientific  aspects,  philo¬ 
sophical  study  was  alien  to  the  Boman  mind,  and  took  the 
form,  as  we  see  in  Cicero,  of  literary  and  academic  exercita- 
tions.  About  oratory,  however,  they  were  very  much  in 
earnest. 

Youths  of  high  intellectual  ambition  did  not  rest  satisfied 
with  the  instruction  obtainable  at  Borne,  but  (at  least  after 
80  b.c.)  resorted  to  Athens  and  other  philosophical  and  rhe¬ 
torical  centres.  In  the  last  decades  of  the  Bepublic  there 
were  many  famous  schools  of  this  higher  class.  In  addition  to 
Athens,  the  mother  city,  we  have  the  great  university  schools 
of  Bliodes,  Apollonia,  Mitylene,  Alexandria,  Tarsus,  Perga- 
mus,  and  afterwards,  in  imperial  times,  Smyrna  and  Ephesus. 
In  the  time  of  Cicero  Marseilles  also  was  already  a  widely 
known  school. 

Women  shared  in  the  literary  culture  of  Borne;  but  only 
to  a  restricted  extent.  That  girls  occasionally  attended  day- 
schools,  at  least  towards  the  end  of  the  Bepublic,  is  certain ; 
but  speaking  generally,  their  education  was  domestic  and 
conducted  by  private  tutors.  But  many  possessed  high 
culture.  Beferring  to  the  Gracchi  Cicero  says,  non  tam  in 
gremio  educatos  qacim  sermone  mcttris.  Much  later,  similar 
testimony  is  borne  to  the  mother  of  Agricola  by  Tacitus. 

But  although  the  Boman  always  remained  Boman  in  the 
midst  of  Hellenic  influences,  he  had  lost,  long  before  the 
time  of  Augustus,  the  old  primitive  simplicity  of  life. 
Probably  Cato  the  elder  was  the  last  genuine  representative  of 
this,  and  there  is  a  suspicion  of  affectation  in  his  intellectual 
narrowness,  frugality,  and  hardiness.  The  severe  and  even 
stern  Boman  family  life  penetrated  by  a  moral  and  religious 
spirit  had,  to  a  large  extent,  disappeared  owing  to  contact 
with  other  nations  and  the  new  liberal  education.  Wealth, 
luxury,  and  Greek  scepticism,  had  begun  to  weaken  the 
Boman  fibre.  There  were  always  some,  of  course,  who  repre¬ 
sented  the  ancient  spirit  and  who,  in  the  words  of  Cicero, 
added  Hellenic  culture  ad  domesticum  majorumque  morem  ; 
but  the  mass  of  the  upper  classes,  having  lost  the  Boman 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  343 


faith,  began  to  find  their  life-aim  in  personal  ambition  and 
aggrandisement,  save  when  they  adopted  a  cosmopolitan 
philosophy  and  lived  apart. 

Discipline.  Teachers.  School-houses 

Discipline.  —  The  school  discipline  was  severe.  Plautus 
Bacch.’  iii.  3.  27),  says 

Cum  librum  legeres  si  unam  peccavisses  syllabam 
Fieret  corium  tarn  maculosum  quani  est  nutricis  pallium. 

The  rod  and  strap  1  were  freely  used  both  in  the  elementary 
and  secondary  school.  All  are  familiar  with  Horace’s 
Orbilius  plagosus  (‘  Ep.’  ii.  1.70),  who  transferred  to  the 
school  the  discipline  he  had  learned  to  suffer  and  enforce  as 
a  soldier.  Juvenal  refers  to  school  punishments  (i.  15), 
where  it  would  appear  that  £  to  withdraw  the  hand  from  the 
rod  ’  was  a  phrase  for  leaving  school.  Ausonius  speaks  of 
the  school  resounding  with  many  a  stroke  (multo  verier e). 
Martial  refers  to  the  ‘  melancholy  rods,  sceptres  of  peda¬ 
gogues,’  ‘  Ferukeque  tristes  sceptra  psedagogorum  ’  (x.  62). 
He  also  speaks  of  the  teacher  as  ‘  clamosus,’  and  it  is  both 
to  ludimagistri  and  grammatici  that  the  epithets  ‘  ssevus,’ 
‘  acerbus,’  ‘  plagosus,’  were  justly  applied  by  him.  Notwith¬ 
standing  that  Martial  in  the  epigram  just  quoted  appeals  to 
the  schoolmaster  to  he  kind  to  his  pupils,  if  he  would  have 
them  love  learning  ;  that  the  stern  Cato  in  his  lost  book  ‘  De 
Liberis  educandis,’  denounced  those  who  strike  women  and 
children ;  that  Quintilian  protested  against  the  practice ; 
that  one  distinguished  teacher  was  opposed  to  flogging  in 
the  generation  preceding  Quintilian  ;  that  Yerrius  Flaccus 
followed  a  milder  way ;  that  Seneca  advocated  lenity,  and 
that  Cicero  said  that  virtue  was  to  be  instilled,  not  by 
menaces,  force,  and  terror,  hut  by  instruction  and  persuasion 
—  notwithstanding  all  this,  the  severe  discipline  continued. 

1  Hor.  Sat.  I.  319,  refers  to  scutica  as  a  whip  more  severe  than  the  flagellum , 
and  both  were  more  severe  than  the  ferula,  but  I  am  not  aware  that  the  two 
former  were  used  in  schools. 


344 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Augustine  as  a  boy  had  to  endure  severe  castigations  (370- 
80  A.D.). 

The  school  hours  were  long,  often  beginning  before  day¬ 
light  and  going  on  till  the  evening  with  an  interval  for  din¬ 
ner.  There  appear,  however,  to  have  been  no  home  lessons.1 
The  pupils  seem  to  have  spoken  aloud  when  learning,  and 
the  masters  out-shouted  them.  Martial  (ix.  69)  says : 

Despiteful  pedant,  why  dost  me  pursue, 

Thou  head  detested  by  the  younger  crew  ? 

Before  the  cock  proclaims  the  day  is  near 
Thy  direful  threats  and  lashes  stun  my  ear,  &c. 

There  were  a  considerable  number  of  short  holidays 
throughout  the  year,  in  addition  to  every  eighth  day.  But 
the  four  months’  holiday  beginning  in  the  middle  of  June  is 
now  understood  to  have  been  confined  to  rural  and  elementary 
schools.  - 

We  do  not  hear  of  rewards  for  merit  till  the  time  of 
Augustus.  It  was  Verrius  Elaccus  who  first  introduced  the 

O 

custom  of  giving  book  prizes ;  but  both  in  Augustan  times 
and  thereafter  they  were  rare. 

Position  of  the  Teacher. —  The  pedagogue  who  had 
charge  of  the  boy  night  and  day,  and  held  a  paternal  rela¬ 
tion  to  him,  accompanied  his  charge  to  school,  sat  there  with 
him,  and  brought  him  home  again.  He  had  considerable 
powers  granted  to  him  with  a  view  to  secure  obedience, 
although  he  was  almost  always  only  a  slave.  The  Romans, 
however,  seem  to  have  taken  more  pains  in  selecting  their 
pedagogues  than  the  Greeks  did.  Their  reward,  when  their 
task  was  completed,  was  usually  the  gift  of  their  freedom. 

In  the  time  of  the  Empire,  as  well  as  of  the  Republic,  the 
position  of  the  elementary  teacher  was  very  humble  ;  and 
before  the  Empire  even  the  grammaticus,  though  more  es¬ 
teemed,  did  not  stand  high.  It  was  Julius  Caesar  who  first 
gave  Roman  citizenship  to  the  grammatici.  Indeed,  the  oc¬ 
cupation  of  elementary  teacher  —  it  could  not  be  called  a 

1  Ussing  says  that  time  was  given  also  for  gymnastic. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  345 


profession  —  was  looked  upon  with  contempt.  Held  of  low 
estimation  in  the  best  Attic  time,  it  fell  still  lower  in  the 
Roman.  I  have  already  quoted  from  Lucian  in  the  chapters 
on  Greek  education,  and  other  references  might  be  given 
here  to  Latin  writers.  Justin,  among  others,  when  he  refers 
(xxi.  5)  to  the  story  of  Dionysius  the  tyrant  of  Syracuse 
having  become  a  primary  teacher  after  his  expulsion,  uses 
the  following  words :  ‘  humillima  quaeque  tutissima  existi- 
mans,  in  sordidissimum  vitae  genus  descendit.’  Among 
Greek  fragments  there  is  one  which  says  of  a  man  who  had 
disappeared,  ‘  he  is  either  dead  or  become  a  primary  teacher.’ 
The  teachers  were  always  slaves  or  freedmen,  and  had  to 
maintain  a  daily  contest  with  their  unruly  pupils.  All 
references  to  the  circumstances  of  teachers  before  the  time 
of  Cicero  represent  them  as  in  poverty.  The  payments  to 
them  were  for  a  long  period  in  the  form  of  ‘  honoraria  ’ 
rather  than  fees.  They  had  to  take  what  they  could  get. 

The  grammatici,  as  I  have  already  indicated,  held  a  higher 
position  and  were  spoken  of  with  some  respect ;  but  it  was 
only  of  the  rhetoricians  (who  corresponded  to  our  modern 
professors),  that  respectful  and  laudatory  remarks  are  made 
by  Roman  writers. 

It  was  in  the  first  century  of  our  era  that  the  word  ‘  pro¬ 
fessor’  began  to  be  used  as  applied  to  experts  in  some  of  the 
‘  liberal  arts.’  Quintilian  (xii.  2)  says  :  ‘  Si  geometrse  et  mus- 
ici  et  grammatici  ceterarumque  artium  professores  omnem 
suam  vitam,  quamlibet  longa  fuerit,  in  singulis  artibus  con- 
sumpserunt,’  &c.  In  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian  the 
title  was  given  to  the  public,  established  and  paid  lecturers 
in  the  Athenaeum  at  Rome.  The  designation  ‘professores 
medici  ’  seems  first  to  have  made  its  appearance  in  the  time 
of  Severus  (193  a.d.).1 

1  Seneca  was  probably  the  first  to  use  the  designation  Professor.  He 
speaks  (Ep.  89)  of  ‘professores  eloquentise.’  It  will  probably  be  found  that 
it  was  only  to  rhetorical  teachers,  and  not  to  philosophers,  that  the  word  was 
applied  in  the  first  instance,  and  then  to  other  specialists.  The  title  ‘  pro¬ 
fessor  ’  was  in  the  course  of  time  extended  to  the  grammatici  and  to  the 
instructors  in  mathematics  and  medicine. 


346 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Both  grammatici  and  rhetoricians  often  made  large 
fortunes.  As  to  the  social  status  of  all  of  them  we  must 
remember  a  fact  which  influenced  the  ancient  mind  to  an 
extent  which  we  fail  fully  to  comprehend,  viz.  that  they 
taught  for  money.  It  has  also  to  be  noted  that  they  were 
not  held  to  ‘  educate/  but  only  to  teach  certain  subjects ,  and 
to  take  their  payment  like  dealers  in  other  articles. 

School-houses,  &c. — Neither  among  the  Greeks  nor 
Romans  were  these  universal  or  even  common  in  our 
modern  sense ;  nor  were  they  built  for  educational  pur¬ 
poses.  Adventure  teachers  (and  all  were  adventure 
teachers)  naturally  provided  their  own  schoolrooms.  For 
a  long  period  any  room  was  good  enough  for  giving  ele¬ 
mentary  instruction.  Sometimes  schools  were  held  in  the 
open  air,  in  some  quiet  corner  of  a  street  or  market  place. 
Horace  (‘Ep.’  I.  xx.  17)  says: 

Ut  pueros  elementa  docentem 
Occupet  extremis  in  vicis  balba  senectus.1 2 

In  the  earlier  times  we  read  of  tabernce  —  sheds  or  booths ; 
and  these  tabernce  in  later  times  were  like  shops  or  ‘  leanto’s  ’ 
opening  on  the  street,  and  attached  to  even  fashionable 
houses.  The  children  for  the  most  part  sat  on  the  floor, 
or,  if  in  the  street,  on  the  stones.  But  the  schools  of  the 
grammatici  seem  to  have  been  generally  the  covered  spaces 
attached  to  larger  buildings,  ‘  giving  ’  on  the  street  and  pro¬ 
vided  with  benches  for  the  children,  the  master  occupying 
a  high  seat  or  cathedra?  Sometimes  they  were  very  much 
like  the  verandah  of  a  house.  The  schoolrooms  ( jpcrgulce 
magistrates )  were  also  frequently  adorned  with  works  of 
art  —  both  in  sculpture  (marble  or  plaster)  and  in  painting. 
They  were  open  and  accessible  to  all.  Parents  and  other 


1  That  this  passage  is  relevant  might  he  doubtful  were  it  not  for  other 
confirmatory  knowledge.  Dion.  Chrys.  Or.  29,  is  aptly  quoted  by  Orellius. 

2  The  assistant  (adjutor,  or  sub-doctor)  sat  on  a  stool.  The  benches  had 
no  backs,  nor  were  there  desks.  The  pupils  wrote  on  their  knees. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  347 


members  of  the  public  frequently  dropt  in  to  see  the  boys 
at  their  work,  and  there  were  great  ‘  speech-days.’ 

The  books  were  rolls  of  MS.  ( volumina ),  which  the  chil¬ 
dren  carried  to  school  in  cylindrical  wooden  boxes. 

The  state  took  no  charge  of  either  schools  or  school¬ 
masters  ;  all  was  left  to  the  parent. 

The  wealthier  families  of  Rome  were  not,  however,  (as  I 
have  so  often  pointed  out)  dependent  solely,  or  even  chiefly, 
on  schools.  Both  grammatici  and  rhetoricians  were  em¬ 
ployed  in  private  houses  to  transcribe  MSS.  and  to  educate 
the  children.  It  is  to  this  form  of  private  education  that 
Quintilian  objected. 

In  early  imperial  times  the  number  of  schools,  primary 
and  secondary,  began  to  increase  rapidly,  and  in  some  cases 
the  teachers  were  engaged  by  the  municipalities  and  were 
paid  a  fixed  salary.  We  see  the  beginning  of  this  custom 
shadowed  forth  in  a  letter  from  Pliny  to  Tacitus  which  we 
shall  quote  in  the  sequel. 


CHAPTER  IV 

DETAILS  OF  INSTRUCTION  AND  METHOD  IN  THE  GRAMMATI¬ 
CAL  AND  RHETORICAL  SCHOOLS 

We  have  been  speaking  generally  of  the  course  of  instruc¬ 
tion  in  Rome.  Let  us  now  endeavour  to  penetrate  into  the 
inside  of  the  Roman  grammar  and  rhetorical  schools  and 
see  the  mode  of  procedure  in  more  detail,  if  possible.1 

The  School  of  the  Grammaticus.  —  The  exercises  of 
the  grammatical  school-boy  were  (1)  Reading,  to  which, 
as  I  have  said,  great  attention  was  paid.  It  was  a  fine 
art.  (2)  Reproducing  short  tales  or  fables  orally,  and 
then  writing  them  as  exercises  in  composition.  (3)  Para¬ 
phrasing.  This  was  graded.  The  younger  pupils  were 
restricted  to  the  employment  of  the  poet’s  own  words  when 

1  Following  to  a  considerable  extent  the  guidance  of  Professor  Jullien. 


348 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


turning  his  lines  into  prose  order.  The  more  advanced  did 
not  mangle  the  poet  (as  we  moderns  do),  but  were  re¬ 
quired  to  expand  his  lines  into  prose  rhetorical  form  and 
might  take  all  sorts  of  liberties  so  long  as  they  did  not 
go  beyond  the  meaning  of  the  poet.  This  was  in  truth  a 
rhetorical  imitation  of  the  poet  and  doubtless  a  valuable 
exercise.  (4)  Short  sentences  (sentential)  were  given  on 
which  they  rang  changes  of  number,  case,  and  syntactical 
construction;  just  as,  in  our  best  schools,  boys  are  required 
to  convert  direct  into  indirect  in  Latin,  and  vice  versa. 
(5)  Pithy  sentences  were  also  given  and  the  pupil  re¬ 
quired  to  explain  them,  and  also  to  paraphrase  them  as 
we  have  above  explained  paraphrasing.  (6)  Prosody  and 
the  practice  of  verse-writing  were  taught. 

Translation  from  Greek  into  Latin  was  not  practised  in 
the  advanced  rhetorical  schools  until  after  the  time  of  Augus¬ 
tus.  In  modern  schools  we  have  found  this  exercise  so  valu¬ 
able  for  boys  that  we  cannot  hut  he  surprised  that  it  was  not 
practised  from  the  very  first  by  the  practical  Bo  mans. 
Cicero  speaks  of  the  great  benefit  he  had  obtained  from  it ; 
but  translation,  as  practised  by  him,  may  rather  be  called 
imitation. 

The  above  exercises  combined  with  a  close  critical  study 
of  the  language  and  the  literary  qualities  of  poems,  and  the 
free  and  elocutionary  delivery  from  memory  of  numerous 
passages,  constituted  the  principal  work  of  the  grammar 
school. 

But  there  was  a  tendency  in  these  schools  towards  the  end 
of  the  Bepublic  to  retain  hoys  longer  than  formerly,  and  to 
introduce  them  to  exercises  in  declamation  on  moral  ques¬ 
tions  of  a  general  kind  and  in  giving  descriptions  of  things 
and  events  (the  higher  forms  of  oratory  —  the  judiciary  and 
the  deliberative — being  specially  reserved  for  the  advanced 
schools  of  the  rhetoricians).  Quintilian  complains  of  this  in¬ 
trusion  of  the  grannnaticus  on  the  rhetor.  It  was  the  Latin 
grammaticus  who  was  chiefly  guilty  of  thus  stepping  beyond 
his  own  sphere,  his  school  being,  in  the  majority  of  cases, 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  349 


attended  after  the  school  of  the  Greek  grammaticus.  It  is 
manifest  that  the  practice  was  of  doubtful  educational  value, 
inasmuch  as  it  led  to  premature  and  showy  exhibitions  of 
oratory  and  thus  interfered  with  the  more  thorough  prepara¬ 
tory  linguistic  discipline.  Especially  would  this  evil  be 
accentuated  by  the  competition  among  masters  for  pupils  and 
the  gullibility  of  the  Bornan  parent,  who  was  doubtless  as 
easily  imposed  on  as  the  British  father. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  Boman  hoy  had  thrown 
on  him  the  impossible  task  of  producing  the  exercises  above 
referred  to  without  help  and  guidance.  The  Greek  rhetori¬ 
cians  had  reduced  thesis-writing  and  declamation  to  an  art, 
and  the  logicians  had  helped  them.  ‘  Topics  ’  ( tottol ,  places, 
and  in  Latin,  loci )  had  for  their  object  the  fixed  development 
of  a  subject  in  a  certain  form  and  the  art  of  finding  argu¬ 
ments.  Without  entering  into  details  (which,  however,  are 
interesting  educationally),  I  shall  borrow  from  Professor 
Jullien  a  statement  of  the  topical  hints  for  an  exercise  on  a 
chria,  i.e.  dictum,  or  pregnant  sentence,  ascribed  to  some  dis¬ 
tinguished  man  :  e.g.  Plato  says  that  ‘  the  Muses  dwell  in  the 
soul  of  the  cultured  man.’ 

1.  A  laudation  of  the  writer  to  whom  the  utterance  or 
deed  was  ascribed. 

2.  The  paraphrase,  in  which  the  thought  was  expanded. 

3.  The  motif  or  underlying  principle  which  explained  and 
justified  the  truth  of  the  thought. 

4.  Comparison,  i.e.  the  comparing  of  the  thought  with 
other  thoughts  like  or  unlike,  just  as  Plutarch  compares 
characters  in  his  ‘  Lives.’ 

5.  The  example :  which  was  furnished  by  some  distin¬ 
guished  man. 

6.  Witnesses  to  confirm  the  dictum,  i.e.  quotations  from 
authorities  who  had  said  the  same,  or  a  similar,  thing. 

7.  Conclusion :  which  often  took  the  form  of  a  practical 
exhortation. 

So  guided,  and  with  models  of  similar  exercises  before 
him,  often  written  by  his  master,  the  boy  could  scarcely  fail 


350 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


to  produce  a  fairly  good  essay  or  declamation,  especially  as 
the  learning  by  heart  of  the  poets  had  stored  his  mind  with 
words  and  felicitous  expressions.  It  was  held  to  be  a  merit 
to  borrow  from  distinguished  writers,  and  not  a  fault.  In¬ 
deed,  even  in  mature  authors  we  find  in  ancient  times  and 
during  the  latter  half  of  the  middle  ages  a  very  free  use  of 
the  productions  of  their  predecessors.  It  seems  to  me  that 
plagiarism  may  be  said  to  have  become  a  moral  offence  only 
in  modern  times. 

Loci  communes  (common  places)  were  declamations  against 
particular  vices  and  in  support  of  virtues  in  the  abstract. 
They  were  thus  general  in  their  treatment.  But  in  these,  as 
in  all  other  exercises  both  of  the  grammatical  and  rhetorical 
schools,  there  was  a  recognised  development  of  the  theme. 
The  treatises  on  rhetoric  were  intended  to  help  invention,  to 
practice  in  the  use  of  correct  language,  in  the  nature  and  use 
of  tropes  and  figures  of  speech  and  in  all  the  devices  whereby 
a  speaker  could  influence  his  fellow  men. 

The  Oratory  to  which  youths  were  trained,  after  going 
through  such  preparatory  instruction  as  I  have  outlined  in  the 
school  of  the  grammaticus,  was  deliberative  and  judiciary  — 
that  is  to  say,  eloquence  suited  to  a  public  assembly  or  senate, 
or  to  the  bar.  As  Professor  Jullien  says,  it  was  professional 
instruction  as  opposed  to  the  liberal  instruction  of  the  gram- 
matici.  The  line  of  demarcation,  however,  between  the 
grammaticus  and  the  rhetorician  was  never  clearly  defined. 
Much  depended  on  the  teacher,  as  it  always  does  where  all 
are  struggling,  each  for  himself. 

That  the  work  of  the  student  of  oratory  was  not  narrow, 
illiberal,  and  purely  technical  may  be  learned  from  Cicero, 
and  from  Quintilian  passim .  As  regards  the  strictly  tech¬ 
nical  training  I  may  with  advantage  quote  from  the  ‘  De 
Oratore,’  i.  31,  a  passage  which  admirably  sums  up  the  whole 
process. 

‘  In  the  first  place  I  will  not  deny  that,  as  becomes  a  man 
well  born  and  liberally  educated,  I  learned  those  trite  and 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  351 


common  precepts  of  teachers  in  general :  first,  that  it  is  the 
business  of  an  orator  to  speak  in  a  manner  adapted  to  per¬ 
suade  ;  next,  that  every  speech  is  either  upon  a  question  con¬ 
cerning  a  matter  in  general,  without  specification  of  persons 
or  times,  or  concerning  a  matter  referring  to  certain  persons 
and  times ;  hut  that,  in  either  case,  whatever  falls  under 
controversy,  the  question  with  regard  to  it  is  usually, 
whether  such  a  thing  has  been  done,  or,  if  it  has  been  done, 
of  what  nature  it  is,  or  by  what  name  it  should  be 
called ;  or,  as  some  add,  whether  it  seems  to  have  been  done 
rightly  or  not.  That  controversies  arise  also  on  the  interpre¬ 
tation  of  writing,  in  which  anything  has  been  expressed 
ambiguously,  or  contradictorily,  or  so  that  what  is  written  is 
at  variance  with  the  writer’s  evident  intention ;  and  that 
there  are  certain  lines  of  argument  adapted  to  all  these  cases. 
But  that  of  such  subjects  as  are  distinct  from  general  ques¬ 
tions,  part  come  under  the  head  of  judicial  proceedings,  part 
under  that  of  deliberations ;  and  that  there  is  a  third  kind 
which  is  employed  in  praising  or  censuring  particular  per¬ 
sons.  That  there  are  also  certain  common-places  on  which 
we  may  insist  in  judicial  proceedings,  in  which  equity  is 
the  object ;  others,  which  we  may  adopt  in  deliberations,  all 
which  are  to  be  directed  to  the  advantage  of  those  to  whom 
we  give  counsel ;  others  in  panegyric,  in  which  all  must  be 
referred  to  the  dignity  of  the  persons  commended.  That 
since  all  the  business  and  art  of  an  orator  is  divided  into 
five  parts,  he  ought  first  to  find  out  what  he  should  say ; 
next,  to  dispose  and  arrange  his  matter,  not  only  in  a  certain 
order,  but  with  a  sort  of  power  and  judgment ;  then  to  clothe 
and  deck  his  thoughts  with  language ;  then  to  secure  them 
in  his  memory;  and  lastly,  to  deliver  them  with  dignity  and 
grace.  I  had  learned  and  understood  also,  that  before  we 
enter  upon  the  main  subject,  the  minds  of  the  audience 
should  be  conciliated  by  an  exordium ;  next,  that  the  case 
should  be  clearly  stated  ;  then,  that  the  point  in  controversy 
should  be  established ;  then,  that  what  we  maintain  should 
be  supported  by  proof,  and  that  whatever  was  said  on  the 


352 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


other  side  should  be  refuted  ;  and  that,  in  the  conclusion  of 
our  speech,  whatever  was  in  our  favour  should  be  amplified 
and  enforced,  and  whatever  made  for  our  adversaries  should 
be  weakened  and  invalidated. 

‘  I  had  heard  also  what  is  taught  about  the  costume  of  a 
speech ;  in  regard  to  which  it  is  first  directed  that  we  should 
speak  correctly  and  in  pure  Latin  ;  next,  intelligibly  and  with 
perspicuity ;  then  gracefully ;  then  suitably  to  the  dignity  of 
the  subject,  and  as  it  were  becomingly ;  and  I  had  made 
myself  acquainted  with  the  rules  relating  to  every  particular. 
Moreover,  I  had  seen  art  applied  to  those  things  which  are 
properly  endowments  of  nature ;  for  I  had  gone  over  some 
precepts  concerning  action,  and  some  concerning  artificial 
memory,  which  were  short,  indeed,  but  requiring  much  exer¬ 
cise;  matters  on  which  almost  all  the  learning  of  those 
artificial  orators  is  employed ;  and  if  I  should  say  that  it  is 
of  no  assistance,  I  should  say  what  is  not  true  ;  for  it  conveys 
some  hints  to  admonish  the  orator,  as  it  were,  to  what  he 
should  refer  each  part  of  his  speech,  and  to  what  points  he 
may  direct  his  view,  so  as  not  to  wander  from  the  object 
which  he  has  proposed  to  himself.  But  I  consider  that  with 
regard  to  all  precepts  the  case  is  this,  not  that  orators  by  ad¬ 
hering  to  them  have  obtained  distinction  in  eloquence,  but 
that  certain  persons  have  noticed  what  men  of  eloquence 
practised  of  their  own  accord,  and  formed  rules  accordingly ; 
so  that  eloquence  has  not  sprung  from  art,  but  art  from  elo¬ 
quence  ;  not  that,  as  I  said  before,  I  entirely  reject  art,  for  it 
is,  though  not  essentially  necessary  to  oratory,  yet  proper  for 
a  man  of  liberal  education  to  learn.  And  by  you,  my  young 
friends,  some  preliminary  exercise  must  be  undergone ; 
though,  indeed,  you  are  already  on  the  course  ;  but  those  who 
are  to  enter  upon  a  race,  and  those  who  are  preparing  for 
what  is  to  be  done  in  the  forum,  as  their  field  of  battle,  may 
alike  previously  learn,  and  try  their  powers,  by  practising  in 
sport.’ 

So  far  as  we  know  the  course  of  training  thus  generally 
sketched  by  Cicero,  it  may  be  concisely  summed  up  thus : 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  353 


When  the  Rhetor  began  from  the  beginning  he  carried  the 
*  youth  through  the  exercises  which'  I  have  already  described 
as  the  higher  work  of  the  grammaticus,  and  then  gave  more 
advanced  work  on  the  same  lines  while  he  delivered  or 
dictated  lectures  on  the  theory  of  eloquence.  Subsequent 
exercises  consisted  of  speeches  prepared  by  the  pupils,  of 
a  demonstrative,  deliberative,  or  judiciary  character.  The 
demonstrative  consisted  very  much  of  the  laudation  or  un¬ 
favourable  criticism  of  certain  historical,  or  it  might  be 
imaginary,  acts  and  characters ;  the  deliberative  was  an 
argument  addressing  itself  to  the  question  whether  any  act 
should  have  been  done  or  not ;  the  judiciary  was  in  the  form 
of  a  pleading  before  a  judge  —  attack  and  defence.  These 
pleadings  were  often  regarding  fictitious  cases,  sometimes 
regarding  cases  that  had  actually  been  in  the  courts.  The 
general  course  of  instruction  applicable  to  all  forms  of  oratory 
embraced  Invention,  i.e.  the  finding  of  arguments ;  Disposi¬ 
tion  or  arrangement ;  Style  or  elocution ;  Memory  and  its 
cultivation  ;  and  Action  or  delivery.  Disputations  were  con¬ 
ducted  by  the  students,  under  the  guidance  of  the  rhetor. 
All  sorts  of  subjects  were  propounded,  but  chiefly  those  hav¬ 
ing  a  political  or  ethical  significance.  In  imperial  times,  and 
probably  earlier,  the  rhetors  themselves  would  have  public 
bouts,  and  people  would  flock  to  hear  them  and  encourage 
them  with  their  plaudits.  Divorced,  however,  as  the  exercises 
were  from  all  direct  bearing  on  political  action,  they  tended 
more  and  more  to  become  mere  declamation. 

We  now  see  that  the  education  which  took  shape  to  itself 
under  the  Roman  sway,  and  which  was  summed  up  in  the 
word  humanitas,  was  almost  wholly  a  literary  education, 
based,  however,  on  a  thorough  grammatical  study.  It  is 
important  to  note  this,  and  the  relative  place  assigned  to 
other  studies,  because  of  its  bearing  on  the  history  of  educa¬ 
tion  even  down  to  our  own  times. 

It  is,  I  think,  sufficiently  clear  that,  notwithstanding  the 
literary  character  of  the  education,  private  and  public  utility 
governed  the  Roman  practice.  Roman  education  was  Greek, 

23 


i 


354 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


but  it  was  Greek  translated  into  Latin.  The  liberal  arts  were 
all  cultivated  at  Rome,  but  not  by  Romans.  They  were  to  * 
be  enjoyed,  not  pursued.  Greek  aliens  — very  often  slaves 
or  freedmen  —  represented  all  the  arts,  and  were  hired.  Play¬ 
acting,  though  regarded  as  a  degrading  employment,  was  yet 
of  ‘  use  ’  to  the  orator  by  teaching  him  gesture  :  sculpture 
was  of  ‘  use  ’  for  public  monuments  and  portraiture,  and  so 
forth. 

Literature,  it  is  true,  was  in  esteem  both  as  a  study,  an 
educational  instrument,  and  as  a  recreation ;  but,  above  all, 
as  necessary  to  form  the  orator.  Literature  for  the  sake  of 
literature,  art  for  the  sake  of  art,  were  to  the  Greek  familiar 
conceptions  ;  and  in  his  schools  it  was  the  real  of  literature, 
the  enriching  of  the  mind  with  noble  utterances  and  noble 
forms,  which  was  always  prominent.  In  the  case  of  the 
Roman  we  find  the  discipline  of  grammar  take  precedence  of 
the  living  spirit  of  literature,  without,  however,  by  any  means 
extinguishing  it. 

Of  course  there  were  many  individual  exceptions  to  the 
Roman  view  of  art  and  the  arts  among  the  Romans  them¬ 
selves  ;  but  the  general  utilitarian  tendency  of  the  Roman 
mind  was  always  in  evidence.  The  Hellenic  ideal  of  a 
cultured  man — cultured  for  the  sake  of  culture  —  was  never 
accepted  by  the  Roman,  save  in  a  half-hearted  way.  Indeed, 
he  had  great  contempt,  and  with  good  reason,  for  much  of 
the  product  of  the  Hellenic  system.  The  lively  Greek  who 
frequented  the  streets  of  Rome  and  other  Italian  towns,  and 
who  in  his  easy  self-confidence  was  ready  to  talk,  and  to 
talk  well,  on  any  subject  and  in  favour  of  any  side,  was 
antagonistic  to  the  Roman  type  of  character,  and  to  that 
serious  view  of  life  which  had  made  the  Roman  and  which 
seemed  still  to  survive  in  spite  of  growing  luxury,  an  en¬ 
feebled  public  spirit,  and  a  decaying  morality. 


I  have  already  said  that  the  loss  of  the  writings  of  Terentius 
Varro  (died  26  b.c.),  the  ‘most  learned  of  the  Romans,’  has 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES 


355 


deprived  us  of  much  that  would  have  thrown  additional  light 
on  the  actual  state  of  education  and  of  learning  immediately 
before  the  birth  of  Christ.  One  of  his  works  was  entitled 
‘  Libri  Disciplinarum.’  All  the  more  valuable  are  the  writ¬ 
ings  of  Quintilian  which  appeared  in  the  last  decade  of  the 
first  century  a.d.  In  him  we  see  the  highest  type  of  teacher 
which  the  ancient  world  produced,  with,  perhaps,  the  single 
exception  of  Isocrates  ;  and  from  his  writings  we  can  learn 
both  what  the  Eomano-Hellenic  education  was  in  its  inner 
working,  and  also  what,  in  his  opinion,  it  ought  to  have  been. 
His  works,  accordingly,  are  not  only  of  great  importance  in 
the  history  of  education  as  formulating  the  aims  and  method 
of  the  best  kind  of  Romano-Hellenic  school,  both  grammatical 
and  rhetorical ;  hut  they  also  contain  so  much  practical 
instruction  for  the  teacher  of  all  time  that  I  shall  now  speak 
of  him  and  his  treatise  in  some  detail,  confining  myself,  how¬ 
ever,  to  what  is  specially  instructive  to  the  teacher  of  the 
modern  school.  I  am  justified  in  giving  this  prominence  to 
Quintilian  by  the  further  fact  that  he  has  governed  all 
modern  education  since  the  Renaissance ;  and,  in  truth,  we 
have  not  even  yet  advanced  so  far  as  wholly  to  restore  the 
school  of  Quintilian.  The  nearest  approach  to  it  were  the 
schools  of  Vittorino  da  Feltre  in  the  fourteenth  and  Hegius, 
Michael  Neander,  Trotzendorff,  and  Sturm,  in  the  fifteenth 
and  sixteenth  centuries. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  SCHOOL  OF  QUINTILIAN 

Marcus  Fabius  Quintilianus  was  born  at  Calagurris 
(Calahorra)  in  the  upper  valley  of  the  Ebro  about  a.d. 
38.1  He  seems  to  have  been  taken  by  his  father  to  Rome 

1  Many  say  35,  and  till  recently  42  was  the  accepted  date.  I  give  a  date 
between  the  two  as  being  the  most  probable.  Seneca  was  born  a  year  or  two 
before  the  birth  of  Christ  ;  Plutarch  48  or  49  a.d.  (about  the  same  time  as 
Quintilian),  and  Tacitus  about  61  a.d. 


356 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


when  quite  a  hoy  to  prosecute  his  studies.  His  father  was 
himself  a  teacher  of  rhetoric.  At  the  age  of  about  25  he 
returned  to  his  native  place,  where  he  remained  several  years 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  At  about  the  age  of  30  he 
again  came  to  Eome  in  the  retinue  of  Galba  (a.d.  68)  and 
began  to  practise  at  the  bar,  attaining  some  distinction, 
especially  for  his  clear,  exact,  and  logical  statement  of  cases. 
Dr.  Peterson  in  his  edition  of  Book  X.  quotes  from  Hild  as 
follows :  — ‘  Among  the  orators  of  the  day,  some,  ignorant 
and  coarse,  had  left  mean  occupations  for  the  bar  without 
any  preliminary  study,  where  they  made  up  in  audacity  for 
lack  of  talent,  and  in  noisy  conceit  for  a  defective  knowledge 
of  law ;  others  were  trained  in  the  practice  of  delation  to 
every  form  of  trickery  and  violence ;  Quintilian,  honest,  able, 
and  moderate,  stood  by  himself.’ 

Later  in  life  he  began  to  give  instruction  in  the  oratorical 
art,  including  under  this,  however,  a  wide  range  of  gram¬ 
matical  and  literary  culture,  which  he  thought  necessary  to 
the  education  of  the  true  orator.  Among  his  pupils  was  the 
younger  Pliny.  He  acquired  a  great  reputation  as  an  in¬ 
structor,  and  more  honour  than  was  usually  conferred  on 
teachers  of  rhetoric  in  those  days.  Domitian  gave  him  per¬ 
mission  to  wear  the  insignia  of  a  man  of  consular  rank.  It 
is  to  this  that  Juvenal  refers  in  the  line  (Sat.  vii.  186), 

If  fortune  be  kind,  you  will  from  a  rhetor  become  a  consul.1 

The  well-known  passage  in  Suetonius’  ‘Life  of  Vespasian’ 
(c.  18)  marks  the  first  State  action  for  the  maintenance  of 
public  schools :  ‘  Vespasianus,  who  first  fixed  out  of  the 
public  treasury  a  salary  of  100  sestertia  each  to  the  rhetors, 
Greek  and  Latin  2  ’  (estimated  at  about  8001.  a  year).  As 
Vespasian  reigned  from  a.d.  71  to  a.d.  79,  the  most  active 
period  of  Quintilian’s  scholastic  career,  we  may  conclude 
that  he  was  one  of  the  rhetors  endowed  by  Vespasian,  all 

1  ‘Si  fortuna  volet,  ties  de  rlietore  consul.’ 

2  ‘  Qui  primus  e  fisco  Latinis  Grsecisque  rhetoribus  annua  centena  con- 
stituit.’ 


357 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES 

the  more  that  the  ‘Eusebian  Chronicle’  (Roth’s  ‘  Suetonius,’ 
p.  272)  says  :  ‘  Quintilian,  a  Calagurritan  from  Spain,  the 
first  to  open  a  public  school  in  Rome  and  to  receive  a  salary 
out  of  the  public  treasury,  flourished.’ 1  Referring  to  his 
work  as  a  public  instructor,  Martial  says,2  ‘  Quintilian,  su¬ 
preme  governor  of  unstable  youth  ;  Quintilian,  glory  of  the 
Roman  gown  !  ’ 

After  twenty  years’  teaching  he  retired  from  active  life  at 
the  early  age  of  about  fifty,  although  after  his  retirement  he 
was  employed  as  a  private  tutor  at  court  to  Domitian’s  two 
grand-nephews  (a.d.  93). 

At  the  urgent  solicitation  of  many  friends  and  admirers, 
and  also  to  put  a* stop  to  the  circulation  of  notes  of  his 
lectures,  published  with  his  name  but  without  his  authority, 
he  now  began  to  prepare  and  arrange,  with  a  view  to  publi¬ 
cation,  the  abundant  materials  amassed  in  the  course  of  an 
active  professional  life.  This  occupied  him  a  period  of  only 
two  years  (probably  between  a.d.  93  and  95).  The  solicita¬ 
tions  of  his  publisher  led  him  to  issue  his  work  sooner  than 
he  would  otherwise  have  done.  He  died  before  the  end  of 
the  first  century  a.d.  at  the  age  of  about  sixty.  He  himself 
tells  us  that  he  lost  his  wife  when  she  was  only  nineteen, 
and  that  the  two  boys  she  left  behind  her  also  died,  the 
younger  at  five  years  old  and  the  elder  at  ten. 

The  books  which  he  published,  sometimes  called  ‘  Oratori¬ 
cal  Institutions,’  are  known  under  the  title  of  ‘  Twelve  Books 
on  the  Education  of  an  Orator’:  ‘He  Institutione  Oratoria’ 
are  the  words  which  he  himself  uses  in  a  prefatory  letter  to 
his  publisher,  Trypho. 

Quintilian  was  one  of  the  most  Roman  of  the  Roman  men 
of  letters.  Not  only  because  of  the  national  note  in  his 
style  as  a  whole,  but  for  the  legal  precision  and  directness 
of  his  thought  and  language,  and  for  the  soundness  and 

1  ‘  Quintilianus,  ex  Hispania,  Calagurritamis,  qui  primus  Romse  publicam 
scholam  Paperuit]  et  salarium  e  fisco  accepit,  claruit.  ’ 

2  *  Quintiliane  vagse  moderator  suinme  juventse, 

Gloria  Romance  Quintiliane  togce.’  —  ii.  90. 


358 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


moderation  of  his  judgments.  There  is  the  calmness  of 
scientific  exposition  about  his  reasoning,  wholly  unlike  our 
modern  style  of  writing  into  which  we  are  apt  to  introduce, 
even  unconsciously,  a  certain  amount  of  open  or  latent 
passion.  Political  and  religious  bias  dominates  even  our 
abstract  philosophy  and  political  economy.  Every  reader 
will  be  disposed  to  concur  in  the  estimate  of  Bahr  in  his 
‘  Geschichte  der  Komischen  Literatur/  where  he  says :  ‘  We 
find  in  Quintilian  a  genuinely  critical  spirit,  a  sound  judg¬ 
ment,  and  a  truly  practical  sense,  a  pure  refined  taste, 
a  wide  literary  culture,  and  an  extensive  acquaintance 
with  the  whole  range  of  Greek  and  Roman  literature  ’ 
(p.  325). 

In  exposition,  Quintilian  never  uses  a  single  word  more 
than  is  necessary  to  express  his  thought.  He  has  none  of 
the  amplitude  of  language  which  belongs  to  Cicero.  It  is 
possible  that  he  did  not  admire  copiousness  of  language  as 
distinguished  from  copiousness  of  argument.  It  certainly 
strikes  the  reader  that  while  Quintilian  was  capable  of  a 
far  more  exact  philosophical  style  than  Cicero,  richness 
and  abundance  of  language  were  alien  to  his  cast  of  mind 
as  well  as  forbidden  by  the  strictly  practical  aims  of  his 
book. 

But  how  is  it,  we  are  first  disposed  to  ask,  that  a  book 
on  the  education  of  the  orator  should  in  these  days  con¬ 
cern  us  as  educationalists,  except  in  a  very  subordinate 
way  ?  The  answer  is  already  partly  given  in  the  preceding 
chapter. 

Quintilian  started  with  a  very  enlarged  conception  of  the 
training  requisite  for  an  orator.  This  designation,  indeed, 
as  used  by  him,  may  be  regarded  as  synonymous  with  a 
completely  cultivated  man.  ‘  Others/  he  says,  ‘  have  begun 
their  treatises  on  rhetoric  as  if  they  were  merely  putting 
the  finishing  touch  of  eloquence  on  pupils  already  masters 
of  every  kind  of  learning  ’  (Procem.  4) ;  ‘  but  I  am  of  opinion 
that  to  make  an  orator  we  must  begin  from  the  beginning, 
and  I  consequently/  he  adds,  ‘shall  begin  to  shape  the 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  359 


studies  of  an  orator  from  his  infancy  just  as  if  he  were 
handed  over  to  me  to  bring  up.’  He  accordingly  proposes 
to  start  ab  ipsis  discendi  velut  incunabulis  (as  it  were  from 
the  very  cradle  of  learning). 

Quintilian  does  not  imagine  that  education  can  do  every¬ 
thing.  On  the  contrary,  he  tells  us  that  unless  Nature 
helps,  all  instructions  will  be  useless.  ‘  Illud  tamen  in 
primis  testandum  est,  nihil  prsecepta  atque  artes  valere 
nisi  adjuvante  natura.  Quapropter  ei,  cui  deerit  ingenium, 
non  magis  htec  scripta  sunt  quam  de  agrorum  cultu  steril- 
ibus  terris  ’ :  ‘  First  of  all  I  must  bear  witness  to  this,  that 
precepts  and  arts  are  of  no  value  without  the  assistance  of 
nature.  Wherefore  to  him  who  wants  talent  these  writings 
are  of  no  more  significance  than  an  agricultural  treatise  to 
barren  lands.’  At  the  same  time  he  held  with  Isocrates  and 
Cicero  that  natural  powers  could  be  largely  augmented  and 
adorned. 

Cato  the  elder,  in  his  lost  treatise  on  education,  affirmed 
it  to  be  the  aim  of  education  to  produce  the  bonus  vir. 
Quintilian  substitutes  for  this  the  bonus  orator,  and  in 
doing  so  he  places  himself  in  more  direct  sympathy  with 
the  practical  aims  of  the  post-republican  Roman  life  and 
education.  He  in  fact  extends  the  aim  of  Cato  when  in 
the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  book  he  defines  the  orator  to 
be  ‘  The  Good  Man  skilled  in  speaking  ’  —  Vir  bonus  dicendi 
peritus.  Mere  facultas  dicendi  he  despises.  His  idea  of 
an  orator  is  in  fact  that  of  a  learned,  cultivated,  virtuous 
philosopher  who,  qualified  by  certain  innate  or  acquired 
aptitudes,  is  engaged  in  the  highest  practical  affairs  of  life. 
Practical  life  for  all  is  always  assumed.  In  the  twelfth 
book,  indeed,  he  talks  with  some  disdain  of  philosophers, 
because  they  withdraw  themselves  from  public  occupations. 
He  desires  to  form  a  ‘  Roman  philosopher.’ 1  ‘  The  man  I 

educate  I  should  wish  to  be  a  Roman  philosopher  who,  not 

1  ‘  Ilium  quem  instituo,  Romanum  quendam  velim  esse  sapientem,  qui 
non  secretis  disputationibus  sed  rerum  experimentis  atque  operibus  vere 
civilem  virum  exhibeat.’ —  xii.  27. 


360 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


by  disputations  apart  but  by  dealing  with  practical  life  and 
by  public  activity,  shows  himself  to  be  truly  a  vir  civilis  * 
(a  man  occupied  with  affairs  that  concern  the  commonweal). 
We  manifestly  require  in  such  a  man,  he  says,  not  only  the 
highest  ability  but  also  every  virtue  of  the  mind.  Accord¬ 
ingly,  he  aims  at  forming  a  man  who  is  in  the  best  sense 
of  the  word  a  citizen,  adapted  for  the  administration  of 
public  and  private  affairs,  who  is  competent  to  govern  cities 
by  his  counsels,  to  institute  them  by  his  laws,  and  to 
improve  them  by  his  judicial  decisions.  Then  as  to  the 
virtues :  an  orator  has  to  discourse  on  matters  relating  to 
justice,  temperance,  and  fortitude,  and  how  can  he  do  so 
effectively  unless  he  himself  is  distinguished  by  these 
virtues  ? 

The  orator,  let  us  remember,  had  a  large  and  important 
function  in  the  public  life  of  the  ancients.  He  was  not 
merely  a  pleader  at  the  bar,  but  also  before  public  assemblies. 
He  influenced  the  whole  policy  of  a  country,  and  among 
other  functions  discharged  the  duty  of  the  modern  publicist. 
At  first  sight,  we  may  be  disposed  to  question  the  necessity 
of  goodness  and  virtue  to  a  good  orator ;  but  a  little  reflec¬ 
tion  will  satisfy  us  that,  when  we  fully  realise  the  scope  of 
the  orator’s  function  as  understood  by  the  ancients,  we  must 
admit  with  Quintilian  that  the  truly  good  orator  must  him¬ 
self  be  good.  We  all  recognise  the  contrast  between  learn¬ 
ing  and  wisdom:  but  it  is  important  to  note  also  that 
intellectual  ability,  even  the  highest,  is  not  necessarily  wis¬ 
dom.  The  moral  element  must  dominate.  Quintilian  did 
not  stand  alone  in  his  opinion.  ‘  Depravity,’  says  Aristotle, 

‘  perverts  the  vision  and  causes  it  to  be  deceived  as  to  the 
principles  of  action,  so  that  it  is  really  impossible  for  a  per¬ 
son  who  is  not  good  to  be  really  wise  and  prudent.’  And 
how  can  a  bad  man  give  sound  counsel  in  an  oration  ?  To 
the  extent  to  which  the  counsel,  the  persuasions,  the  argu¬ 
ment  are  unsound,  it  is  bad  oratory.  Coleridge,  in  his 
‘ Table-talk,’  cites  from  Strabo  the  opinion,  ‘to  be  a  good 
poet  one  must  be  a  good  man.’  Carlyle,  again,  says,  4  The 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  361 


real  quantity  of  our  insight  —  how  justly  and  thoroughly  we 
shall  comprehend  the  nature  of  a  thing,  especially  of  a 
human  thing,  depends  on  our  patience,  our  fairness,  loving¬ 
ness,  what  strength  soever  we  have  ;  intellect  comes  from  the 
whole  man  as  it  is  the  light  that  enlightens  the  whole  man.’ 
(Yol.  v.  of  ‘Miscellanies/  p.  125.)  The  significant  thing  for 
us  to  note  as  students  of  education  is  that  Quintilian,  like  all 
competent  thinkers  on  this  subject,  aimed  at  a  moral  result 
as  the  supreme  end.  In  our  great  schools  do  we  consciously 
do  this  ?  If  we  do  not,  then,  with  all  our  ‘  classical  ’  preten¬ 
sions,  we  are  followers  neither  of  the  best  Greeks  nor 
Romans.  There  must  be  something  wrong.  Quintilian 
held  that  a  man  could  not  be  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  those 
noble  studies  of  literature  and  philosophy  which  were  indis¬ 
pensable  to  the  education  of  an  orator,  unless  he  were  free 
from  vice.  From  which  may  we  not  conclude  that  occupa¬ 
tion  with  ennobling  studies  is  the  greatest  safeguard  of 
youth  ? 1 

Mere  eloquence  in  the  ordinary  sense,  fluent  faculty  of 
speech,  did  not  constitute  an  orator  in  Quintilian’s  view.  He 
even  absorbed  the  title  philosopher  into  that  of  orator,  as  did 
Isocrates.  He  wished  to  produce  a  man  ‘  optima  sentientem, 
optimeque  dicentem  ’  (xii.  1.  25)  ‘thinking  the  best  things 
and  expressing  them  in  the  very  best  way/  and  not  a  mere 
mercenary  pleader  in  the  forum,  or  a  claptrap  popular  talker. 
By  giving  to  philosophy  a  practical  character  and  testing  it, 
as  it  were,  by  its  power  of  doing  practical  service  to  the 
state,  he  maintained  even  for  philosophy  a  higher  standard 
than  then  existed  in  many  of  the  schools  of  Greece  and  Alex¬ 
andria.  We  do  not  quarrel  with  Quintilian,  then,  because, 
under  a  very  natural  tendency,  peculiar  to  his  age  and 
nation,  to  magnify  the  office  of  the  rhetorician,  he  used  the 
word  orator  as  a  synonym  for  the  perfectly  trained  and  fully 
equipped  citizen :  nor  yet  because  he  held  that  the  perfect 
orator  was  also  necessarily  the  perfect  citizen.  He  admits 
that  no  man  ever  was  what  he  aims  at  producing ;  but  none 

1  ‘  In  eodem  pectore  nullum  est  honestorum  turpiumque  consortium.’ 


362 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


the  less  ought  we  all  to  aim  at  the  ideal,1  ‘  none  the  less,  are 
we  to  strive  after  the  highest ;  even  if  this  is  not  attainable, 
nevertheless  those  who  strive  after  it  will  go  higher  than 
those  who,  having  despaired  by  anticipation  of  reaching  their 
object,  forthwith  pull  themselves  up  and  halt  at  the  bottom 
of  the  hill/ 

We  see,  then,  that  the  analysis  of  the  writings  which 
Quintilian  left  behind  him  must  furnish  us  with  a  knowledge 
of  the  best  educational  conceptions  possible  in  his  time,  pre¬ 
sented  in  a  form  thoroughly  trustworthy,  inasmuch  as  they 
come  from  a  man  of  long  experience  as  a  teacher,  and  of  a 
temper  whose  ardour  was  moderated  by  cool  reason  and 
sound  judgment.  They  will  also  admit  us  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  kind  of  training  through  which  the  wealthier  classes  of 
Eoman  youth  —  those  who  sought  to  govern  their  country  — 
were  carried  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  when  the 
Hellenic  influence  was  completely  established. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  give  an  exhaustive  account  of  Quin¬ 
tilian,  but  merely  to  bring  into  view  his  leading  principles 
and  methods  as  these  are  expounded  in  his  first  two  books, 
and  only  in  so  far  as  they  may  bear  on  school  work  in  these 
days.  I  shall  make  such  reference  to  his  subsequent  books 
as  will  enable  the  reader  to  form  an  adequate  conception  of 
the  way  in  which  he  discharged  the  task  he  imposed  on 
himself. 


At  the  end  of  his  preface,  Quintilian  gives  us  a  preliminary 
survey  of  his  plan,  as  follows  : 

The  first  book  will  contain  those  things  which  precede  the 
proper  work  of  the  teacher  of  rhetoric. 

The  second  book  will  treat  of  the  elements  of  rhetoric. 

The  next  five  will  be  devoted  to  Inventio,  including 
arrangement  ( Dispositio ). 

1  ‘  Non  ideo  minus  nobis  ad  summa  tendendum  est  .  .  .  quod  si  non  con- 
tingat,  altius  tamen  ibunt  qui  ad  summa  nitentur  quam  qui,  prsesumpta  de- 
speratione  quo  velint  evadendi,  protinus  circa  ima  substiterint  ’  (i.  19). 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  363 


The  next  four  will  be  devoted  to  Elocution  (i.e.  style),  in¬ 
cluding  memory  and  pronunciation  {i.e.  delivery). 

In  conclusion  will  be  considered  the  cultivation  of  the 
orator  personally,  and  as  a  pleader. 

First  Booh 

In  his  first  book,  Quintilian  deals  with  the  instruction  of 
children  before  the  age  of  seven.  After  many  warnings  as  to 
the  necessity  of  providing  nurses  whose  moral  character  is 
good,  and  who  have  sufficient  education  to  set  a  good  ex¬ 
ample  in  speaking,  he  takes  up  the  intellectual  instruction  of 
the  child. 

He  objects  to  the  learning  of  the  alphabet  in  a  memorial 
way,  so  that  children  early  acquire  the  habit  of  saying  the 
letters,  trusting  to  their  memory  alone.  He  advises  that  the 
shape  and  name  be  always  impressed  on  the  child  together, 
and  recommends  the  tracing  over  of  letters  which  have  been 
cut  on  a  board.  He  also  recommends  the  use  of  ivory  figures 
of  letters  as  playthings.  When  they  begin  to  read  words, 
let  the  reading  be  very  slow  and  distinct,  he  says  ;  otherwise, 
by  hurrying  the  child,  or  permitting  the  child  to  hurry,  you 
form  a  bad  habit  and  retard  progress. 

As  to  writing,  he  evidently  considers  that  this  art  is  best 
begun  by  tracing  the  letters  on  the  board  referred  to  above, 
and  thereafter  by  copying  good  specimens,  according  to  our 
modern  usage.  He  thinks  that  the  lines  which  the  pupil  is 
required  to  imitate  should  convey  moral  lessons  which  he 
will  carry  with  him  to  old  age.  He  also  thinks  that  a 
child,  in  learning  to  write,  should  not  be  constantly  exer¬ 
cised  on  ordinary  words,  but  on  the  more  unusual  words, 
that  he  may  acquire  betimes  a  knowledge  of  terms  which,  at 
a  later  period  of  his  studies,  may  be  useful  to  him.  He 
points  out  that,  as  future  progress  and  cultivation  depend  so 
much  on  the  art  of  writing,  the  pupil  should  learn  to  write 
quickly  as  well  as  well,  and  well  as  well  as  quickly. 

Memory,  he  thinks,  may  be  even  at  this  early  age  culti¬ 
vated,  and  passages  from  the  poets  and  utterances  of  learned 


364 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


men  learned  by  heart.  For  this  he  gives  a  curious  reason, 
that  at  this  age  a  teacher  can  do  little  for  the  education  of 
children  (as  they  can  produce  nothing  from  themselves) 
except  cultivate  their  memory. 

Above  all,  he  impresses  on  his  readers  that  children  are 
not  stupid ;  that  they  are  ready  in  thinking  and  prompt  in 
learning  (‘  faciles  in  excogitando  et  ad  discendum  promptos  ’)  ; 
that  it  is  as  natural  for  the  human  animal  to  be  so  as  it  is 
for  birds  to  fly,  horses  to  run,  and  wild  beasts  to  be  savage. 

‘  Characteristic  of  man  is  a  certain  stirring  and  dexterous 
movement  of  mind,  and  hence  the  belief  in  the  celestial 
origin  of  the  soul.’1  It  is  the  want  of  proper  training  which 
dulls  the  childish  intelligence.  Minds  naturally  stupid  and 
unteachable  do  certainly  exist,  but  only  as  monstrosities 
exist  —  and  they  are  few  in  number.  Yet  some  have  greater 
natural  aptitude  than  others. 

He  objects  to  Eoman  boys  learning  Greek  exclusively  for 
too  long  a  period ;  but  he  holds  that  they  should  begin  with 
Greek  (he  must  mean  in  the  secondary  or  grammar  school), 
taking  to  Latin  in  a  year  or  two,  and  learning  it  thereafter 
pari  passu  with  Greek.  Greek,  let  us  remember,  was  at  this 
time,  and,  indeed,  long  before,  taught  to  all  the  upper  classes 
as  the  source  of  Eoman  literature,  and  it  was  also  known 
colloquially  to  the  upper  classes  and  to  merchants  and  others 
through  the  large  number  of  Greek  slaves  and  paedagogi  who 
frequented  Eome,  and  the  universal  relations  which  Eome 
had  with  the  whole  civilised  world. 

Quintilian  now  proceeds  to  discuss  the  respective  merits 
of  public  and  private  education.  By  public  education  was, 
in  his  time,  meant  day-schools,  such  as  we  are  familiar 
with  in  Scotland  and  Germany.  Public  schools  —  in  the 
restricted  sense  of  schools  in  which  boys  were  educated 
away  from  the  influence  of  their  parents,  being  boarded  at 
the  seat  of  their  education,  either  in  the  school  buildings 

#  O 

or  m  affiliated  houses  —  are  institutions  more  characteristic 

1  ‘Nobis  propria  est  mentis  agitatio  atque  sollertia,  unde  origo  animi  cce* 
lestis  creditur.  ’ 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  365 


of  England  than  of  any  other  country,  though  of  course 
known  in  other  countries :  in  all,  indeed,  to  a  certain  extent 
indispensable.  Quintilian,  accordingly,  is  contrasting  domes¬ 
tic  as  opposed  to  school  instruction.  He  argues  the  ques¬ 
tion,  which  in  his  day  was  evidently  of  great  importance. 
Nowadays  it  has  less  interest.  We  are  all  persuaded  that 
boys,  at  least,  are  better  instructed  in  some  public  fashion, 
although  we  may  differ  as  to  the  desirableness  of  removing 
them  from  the  parental  roof  altogether. 

Quintilian  draws  a  very  black  picture  of  the  domestic  life 
of  many  Romans  —  their  daily  habits  of  luxury,  their  sensu¬ 
ality,  and  their  licentious  conversation  and  songs.  No  day 
public  school  could  be  otherwise  than  beneficial  to  the  boy 
of  such  a  family.  That  is  certain.  We  feel  that  the  ‘  tone  ’ 
of  a  day-school  as  a  whole  could  not  fail,  however  defective, 
to  be  better  than  the  tone  of  a  boy  so  reared.  The  school 
would  have  to  guard  against  him,  not  he  against  the  school. 
In  these  days  we  are  scarcely,  indeed,  interested  in  this  ques¬ 
tion  in  the  form  in  which  it  presented  itself  to  Quintilian ; 
education  is  now  for  all,  and  Quintilian  assumes  that  those 
who  prefer  private  education  employ  private  preceptors  and 
pedagogues,  which  is  possible  only  to  the  few  wealthy. 
Public  day  and  public  boarding  schools  are  both  alike  with 
us  simply  a  necessity,  and  no  amount  of  argument  can  now 
touch  the  question.  The  only  point  which  calls  for  discussion 
in  these  days  is  the  relative  advantages  of  these  two  classes 
of  ‘public’  schools.  We  shall  find  the  arguments  of  Quin¬ 
tilian  not  altogether  inapplicable  to  this  modern  question. 
For  he  bases  his  argument  for  day-schools  mainly  on  the  bad 
influences  of  the  pupil’s  home,  and  the  consequent  luxury, 
effeminacy,  viciousness,  and  self-conceit  which  flow  from 
these.  So  now  we  may  (without  formally  entering  into  the 
discussion  here)  say  that  where  the  domestic  atmosphere  is 
bad  because  of  the  luxuriousness  of  homes,  the  preoccupation 
of  the  parents  with  other  things  than  the  bringing  up  of  their 
children,  and  the  evil  influences  flowing  from  the  subservi¬ 
ency  and  flattery  of  menials,  the  children  should  certainly  be 


366 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


removed  to  some  other  place  where  they  may  find  that  true 
home  which  their  parents  have  denied  them.  For  such  chil¬ 
dren  a  day-school  is  better,  much  better,  than  nothing ;  hut 
a  public  home  school  —  if  I  may  so  designate  it  —  is  best 
of  all. 

Quintilian  remarks,  in  connection  with  school  work,  on 
the  advantages  of  emulation,  and  points  out  that  it  is  easier 
for  beginners  of  tender  years  to  imitate  their  fellow-pupils 
than  their  teacher.  He  refers  to  a  custom  which  prevailed 
in  the  school  in  which  he  was  himself  instructed.  The  hoys 
were  assigned  a  certain  order  in  speaking  or  declaiming  the 
passages  they  had  learned  —  the  best  being  assigned  the 
highest  place,  and  adds  (a  suggestive  fact)  that  every  thirtieth 
day  a  fresh  arrangement  of  the  order  was  made  according  to 
the  results  of  a  fresh  exercise.  If  we  would  imitate  this, 
adapting  it  to  modern  school  life,  we  should  have  monthly 
examinations  to  determine  the  places  of  hoys  in  a  class  —  a 
far  sounder  system  than  trusting  to  the  chances  of  daily 
‘place-taking,’  which,  moreover,  has  many  collateral  dis¬ 
advantages. 

One  other  observation  Quintilian  makes  which  we  may 
here  quote.  He  counsels  masters  to  moderate  their  strength 
so  as  not  to  burden  the  undeveloped  powers  of  the  learners, 
but  rather  to  descend  to  the  level  of  their  understanding 
—  ‘  ad  intellectum  audientis  descendere.’  He  compares  the 
ambitious  attempt  to  give  boys  more  than  their  stage  of 
progress  admits  of  to  the  pouring  of  a  gush  of  water  into  a 
narrow-necked  bottle.  The  water  is  lost,  whereas  a  gradual 
inpouring  of  it  little  by  little  fills  the  bottle.  ‘What  is 
greater  than  the  understanding  of  a  boy,’  he  says,  ‘will 
not  enter  his  mind  at  all,  because  it  is  not  open  to  appre¬ 
hend  it.’ 1 

He  then  is  led  aside  to  speak  of  the  natural  endowments 
and  disposition  of  boys.  He  considers  that  memory  —  that 
is  to  say,  that  kind  of  memory  which  both  acquires  easily 

1  ‘Majora  intellects  velut  parum  apertos  ad  percipiendum  animos  non  subi- 
bunt  ’  (28). 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  367 


and  retains  long  —  is  the  chief  early  sign  of  ability  in  chil¬ 
dren.  The  next  indication  of  talent  is  the  power  of  imita¬ 
tion  ;  hut  if  this  takes  the  direction  of  imitating  deformities 
or  peculiarities  it  is  a  very  bad  sign.  He  speaks  strongly  of 
this,  and  says  that  this  mimicking  tendency  in  a  boy  gives 
him  no  hope  of  his  ever  having  a  good  disposition.  The 
pupil  whom  he  prefers  is  he  who  is  capable  of  receiving  what 
is  taught  without  difficulty  and  is  disposed  to  ask  questions ; 
but  inclined  to  follow  rather  than  to  run  on  ahead.  The  pre¬ 
cocious  boy  seldom  yields  good  fruit  in  the  long  run.  He 
can  do  little  things  with  great  ease,  and,  instigated  by  self- 
confidence,  desires  to  show  at  once  all  he  can  do.  Without 
any  signs  of  bashfulness,  he  strings  words  together  fluently. 
There  is  no  true  force ,  and  what  power  he  shows  has  not  deep 
roots  ;  and  so  on. 

As  to  natural  disposition ;  he  points  out  that  all  boys  do 
not  yield  to  the  same  motives.  ‘  Some  are  remiss,  unless  you 
urge  them  on  ;  some  resent  commands  ;  some  are  restrained 
by  fear ;  and  others  are  enfeebled  by  it ;  continuity  of  study 
shapes  some,  others  get  on  with  more  of  a  rush.  Give  me 
the  boy/  he  says,  ‘  whom  praise  excites,  whom  glory  urges, 
who  weeps  at  defeat.’ 

Quintilian  advocates  relaxation  and  play ;  but  he  gives  us 
no  indication  of  the  amount  of  daily  headwork  he  expected 
of  a  boy.  The  time-table  of  a  Roman  school  would  be  an 
interesting  monument.  He  considers  that  boys’  dispositions 
appear  more  frequently  in  play  than  anywhere  else :  they  then 
reveal  themselves  unconsciously  and  we  can  correct  faults 
while  the  boy  is  yet  of  tender  years.  (The  playground,  then, 
seems  to  be  with  Quintilian  part  of  the  school.) 

As  to  corporal  punishments,  Quintilian  has  very  decided 
opinions.  The  passage  is  a  celebrated  one  among  educational¬ 
ists,  and  I  shall  give  it  here. 

‘  I  do  not  at  all  approve  of  boys  being  flogged,  although  it 
is  an  established  practice  and  one  approved  of  by  Chrysippus. 
I  object  to  it,  (1)  because  it  is  a  disgusting  practice  and  fit 
only  for  slaves,  and  indeed  if  you  change  the  age  of  your 


368 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


pupil,  a  personal  insult ;  (2)  because  if  the  mind  of  a  boy  is 
so  illiberal  (ungenerous)  as  to  be  inaccessible  to  reproofs,  he 
will  simply  be  hardened  to  the  infliction  of  stripes  like  the 
worst  of  slaves  ;  (3)  because  there  will  be  no  need  whatso¬ 
ever  of  castigation  if  the  superintendent  of  his  studies  (exactor 
studiorum )  be  persistent.  As  things  are  now,  it  would  seem 
that  the  negligence  of  psedagogi  is  made  amends  for,  not  by 
requiring  boys  to  do  what  is  right,  but  by  punishing  them 
for  doing  what  is  wrong  .  .  .  [Not  to  dwell  on  these  matters,] 
it  is  enough  to  say  that  to  no  man  ought  too  much  liberty  to 
be  allowed  in  dealing  with  pupils  of  tender  years  and  easily 
injured.’ 1 

Secondary  Instruction 

Quintilian  now  supposes  a  boy  to  be  able  to  read  and  write 
Latin,  and  he  considers  that  the  fundamental  discipline  next 
necessary  for  him  with  a  view  to  his  cultivation  is  grammar. 
He  prefers  to  begin  with  the  Greek  Grammar.  Following 
the  same  opinion,  it  was  customary  throughout  Europe  till 
recently,  as  we  all  know,  to  begin  with  Latin  Grammar,  and 
to  trust  that  boys  would  see  their  way  through  the  grammar 
of  their  native  tongue  by  means  of  the  Latin.  Hence  ‘  Gram¬ 
mar’  schools.  I  have  already  pointed  out  that  there  were 
both  Greek  and  Latin  Grammar  schools.  Greek  Grammar 
schools  preceded  Latin  ones.  On  this  point  there  is  an 
interesting  quotation  from  a  lost  letter  of  Cicero’s  given  by 
Suetonius  in  his  Life  of  the  rhetorician  L.  Plotius  Gallus, 
which  I  may  here  introduce  :  ‘  I  remember  well  that  when 
we  were  boys,  one  Lucius  Plotius  first  began  to  teach  Latin  ; 
and  as  great  numbers  flocked  to  his  school,  so  that  those  who 
were  most  devoted  to  study  were  eager  to  take  lessons  from 
him,  it  was  a  great  trouble  to  me  that  I  too  was  not  allowed 
to  do  so.  I  was  prevented,  however,  by  the  decided  opinion 
of  men  of  the  greatest  learning  who  considered  that  it  was 
best  to  cultivate  the  mind  by  the  study  of  Greek.’ 

1  Plato  and  Seneca  had  objected  to  severity  and  force  before  Quintilian. 
Cicero  (‘De  Orat.’  i.  58)  is  frequently  referred  to  as  opposed  to  coercive  means, 
but  he  is  speaking  quite  generally  and  not  of  schools. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  369 


Quintilian  lays  great  stress  on  the  accurate  and  detailed 
knowledge  of  grammar,  including  what  we  now  call  his¬ 
torical  grammar,  the  inquiry  into  the  sounds  of  letters,  the 
transposition  and  substitution  of  vowels  and  consonants  by 
reference  to  ancient  Latin  and  Greek  forms :  then  the  study 
of  the  parts  of  speech,  and  inquiry  into  etymologies,  syno¬ 
nyms,  &c.  The  difficulty  of  fixing  the  number  of  the  parts 
of  speech  and  the  difference  of  opinion  as  regards  their  origin 
and  proper  classification  is,  Quintilian  thinks,  no  argument 
against  the  study.  I  may  be  allowed  to  interpose  here  that 
it  is  an  argument  for  the  study.  These  grammatical  founda¬ 
tions  should  he  surely  and  soundly  laid  according  to  Quin¬ 
tilian,  as  the  basis  of  future  literary  culture.  And  so  far 
Quintilian  was  right,  if  we  grant  him  that  the  object  of  all 
training  is  to  train  a  man  who  can  speak  well  and  write  well. 
In  these  days  we  may  follow  Quintilian  with  safety,  notwith¬ 
standing  his  apparently  limited  view  of  the  end  of  education 
—  because  he  has  already  said  that  only  the  man  trained  in 
all  the  virtues  and  in  practical  philosophy  is  the  true  orator. 
Mutcitis  mutandis  we  must  indeed  heartily  concur  with  Quin¬ 
tilian,  for  a  man  who  would  speak  well  and  write  well  must, 
first  of  all,  know  what  he  is  speaking  about,  and  in  the 
second  place  he  must  have  been  a  student  of  words,  of  style, 
and  of  literary  expression.  But  words  alone,  considered 
grammatically,  though  an  important  and  indispensable  dis¬ 
cipline,  will  not  give  him  power  of  speaking  or  writing  with 
effect.  In  modern  times,  then,  we  must  extend  the  matter 
of  education  if  we  are  to  carry  out  Quintilian’s  instructions. 
But  while  so  saying,  we  must  concur  with  him  in  thinking 
that  the  analysis  of  language  —  that  is,  of  words  and  sen¬ 
tences,  and  also  of  mere  forms  and  of  etymologies,  is  pro¬ 
ductive  of  much  benefit  to  the  intelligence  of  a  boy,  and 
gives  a  firmness  and  solidity  to  the  intellect  which  even 
logic  will  fail  to  give  where  there  has  been  no  such  prior 
grammatical  discipline.  As  to  Quintilian’s  opinion  that  we 
should  begin  with  a  foreign  tongue,  we  must  bear  in  mind 
our  change  of  circumstances ;  the  grammar  of  our  own 

24 


370 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


language  is  now  considerably  developed  and  systematised, 
and  the  science  of  comparative  philology  has  thrown  great 
light  on  origins.  Accordingly,  English,  in  the  hands  of  a 
man  of  grammatical  and  philological  mind,  is  now  capable  of 
being  used  as  a  most  valuable  instrument  both  of  instruction 
and  discipline.  Then,  again,  the  grammatical  study  of 
Greek  was  more  advanced  than  that  of  Latin  in  Quintilian’s 
time ;  and  there  were  other  good  reasons.  A  potent  argu¬ 
ment  also  which  would  not  suggest  itself  to  Quintilian  for 
beginning  with  the  grammar  of  our  own  tongue  is  that  the 
boy  already  knows  it,  practically  and  implicitly.  We  have 
only,  by  pursuing  the  analytico-synthetic  method  to  raise 
the  indefinite  experience  to  true  knowledge  —  make  explicit 
what  is  implicit.  This  is  instruction  in  the  grammar  of  the 
vernacular. 

Quintilian  now  deals  with  the  use  of  words,  inculcating 
the  avoidance  of  ‘  barbarisms  ’  (which  are  defined  to  be  faults 
in  respect  of  individual  words),  solecisms,  &c.  Quintilian’s 
remarks  here  contain  little  of  value  to  us  as  teachers  beyond 
impressing  on  all  who  may  read  them  the  importance  of 
employing  only  such  words  as  are  correct  in  substance  and 
in  form.  It  is  not  wasted  time  to  direct  the  attention  of 
scholars  to  mere  words ;  this  is  a  popular  error  :  the  study  of 
words  with  special  reference  to  their  comparative  fitness  to 
express  a  thought,  and  to  their  purity  of  origin,  is  a  valuable 
discipline.  Words  carry  ideas. 

In  speaking  of  correct  language  generally,  Quintilian 
points  out,  to  begin  with,  that  it  rests  on  ratio,  vetustas , 
auctoritas,  and  consuetudo  (reason,  antiquity,  authority,  and 
custom).  He  then  considers  each  of  these  sources,  or  rather 
guarantees,  of  correct  language  in  a  chapter  full  of  interest 
for  the  student  of  the  Latin  tongue  and  of  general  ety¬ 
mology.  After  all,  in  the  selection  of  words  we  must  be 
guided  by  the  custom  of  our  time,  says  Quintilian,  not  the 
custom  of  the  multitude  but  the  ‘consensus  eruditorum’ 
(learned  or  educated  men),  just  as  the  consensus  of  good 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  371 


men  determines  custom  as  regards  manner  of  living  (Horace 
speaks  also  of  the  usus  loquendi). 

He  next  deals  with  the  writing  of  words  as  the  previous 
chapter  dealt  with  words  spoken.  The  spelling  of  words 
is  considered  here.  His  general  conclusion  as  to  spelling 
is  that  words  should  be  written  as  they  are  sounded,  inas¬ 
much  as  the  very  use  of  written  characters  is  to  represent 
sounds.  He  makes  an  exception,  however,  where  custom 
declares  strongly  for  a  spelling  though  it  be  inconsistent 
with  the  sound. 

To  the  teaching  of  good  reading  he  attaches,  as  did  all 
Romans  and  Greeks,  great  importance.  Reading  is  to  be 
taught  with  care,  the  boy  being  taught  when  to  read 
slowly,  when  with  more  rapidity,  when  to  speak  with 
vivacity,  and  when  with  gentleness  of  tone.  All  this 
depends  on  practice;  and  I  have,  he  says,  only  one  thing 
to  enjoin :  ‘  that  he  may  do  all  these  things  let  him  under¬ 
stand  what  he  reads.’  He  adds,  and  I  think  the  remark 
as  applied  to  reading  is  worth  our  attention,  ‘  Let  the  read¬ 
ing  be  manly  and  grave,  but  grave  with  a  certain  sweet¬ 
ness.’  The  poets  are  not  to  be  read  like  prose  writers;  at 
the  same  time  they  are  not  to  be  read  in  a  sing-song  tone, 
nor  ‘  plasmate  effeminata  ’  —  that  is  to  say,  rendered  effemi¬ 
nate  by  an  exaggerated  and  affected  modulation.  He  tells 
us  that  Caesar  once  said  to  a  reader  of  this  last  kind  ‘  Si 
cantas,  male  cantas ;  si  legis,  cantas  ’  (if  you  are  singing, 
you  sing  vilely;  if  you  are  reading,  you  sing).  He  objects 
to  speeches  in  poetry  being  uttered  by  the  reader  as  an 
actor  would  utter  them ;  but  thinks  a  difference  of  tone 
necessary  in  order  to  show  that  they  are  speeches. 

The  substance  of  what  is  read  should  be  morally  good 
and  inspiring,  while  the  literary  character  of  it  should  be 
worthy  of  imitation.  Homer  and  Virgil  therefore  should 
be  read,  and  the  poets  generally,  taking  care  to  give  to 
boys  only  what  is  morally  pure.  Those  things  are  to  be 
chiefly  perused  by  boys  which  most  of  all  nourish  the 
talent  and  enlarge  the  mind  —  books  on  learning  being 


372 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


postponed.  Manliness  of  thought  and  expression  are  to 
be  gained  from  a  study  of  the  older  writers. 

He  then  refers  to  the  course  to  be  pursued  by  the  teacher 
in  examining  on  the  passages  read.  The  verses  should  be 
parsed  and  scanned.  Peculiarities  in  the  use  of  words 
should  then  be  brought  out  and  the  different  senses  in 
which  certain  words  may  be  taken.  But  above  all,  the 
teacher  should  point  out  the  beauty  of  the  arrangement, 
the  charm  of  the  subject  matter,  the  appropriateness  of 
the  words  to  the  character  represented,  what  is  worthy  of 
praise  in  the  substance,  what  in  the  words  used,  and  so 
forth.  Historical  allusions  should  be  explained ;  but  the 
pupil  should  not  he  overloaded  with  these,  but  confined 
to  what  is  related  by  authors  of  mark. 

While  boys  are  still  young  and  not  yet  ready  to  be 
handed  over  to  the  rhetor,  the  beginnings  of  the  art  of 
speaking  should  be  taught.  Boys  should,  after  they  have 
left  behind  them  nursery  stories,  be  exercised  in  relating 
the  fables  of  iEsop,  and  afterwards  writing  down  the  nar¬ 
ration.  Then  they  should  he  required  to  paraphrase  the 
poets,  and  to  give  brief  statements  regarding  events  or  char¬ 
acters  which  have  a  moral  significance.  (This,  I  think,  was 
what  was  known  as  ‘  description  ’). 

Quintilian  now,  leaving  the  study  of  language,  adverts  to 
those  other  studies  which  are  necessary  to  the  orator,  or  com¬ 
pletely  educated  man,  taking  up  specially  mathematics  and 
music. 

The  word  music  among  the  ancients,  I  may  here  recall  to 
the  reader,  was  a  word  of  varying  application.  Sometimes  it 
had  the  limited  signification  which  we  attach  to  it.  At 
other  times  it  was  regarded  as  including  also  grammar  and 
geometry ;  and  again  in  its  wider  sense  it  included  all  educa¬ 
tion,  save  that  which  had  to  do  with  the  discipline  and 
development  of  the  body,  which  was  called  gymnastic. 

The  importance  of  music,  in  its  restricted  sense,  for  the 
orator  was  evident ;  for  he  must  understand  and  practise 
rhythm  in  his  sentences  and  utterance.  Mathematics,  which 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  373 

covered  both  arithmetic  and  geometry,  can,  I  think,  be  shown 
to  be  indispensable  only  on  the  presumption  that  we  regard 
the  orator  as  our  type  of  an  educated  man.  If  we  do  so,  all 
that  Quintilian  says  about  the  importance  of  musical  and 
mathematical  studies  will  receive  the  heartiest  support  of  all 
competent  persons.  The  grounds  on  which  he  advocates 
music  are  of  a  practical  kind,  and  the  same  applies  to  his 
advocacy  of  geometry.  The  educational  ends  of  the  Romans 
had  always  (as  I  have  frequently  said)  an  objective  and 
practical  character.  The  recognition  of  the  fact  that  there 
was  a  certain  constitution  of  mind  and  the  relation  of  educa¬ 
tional  instruments  to  the  full  development  and  discipline  of 
the  mind,  as  mind,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  entertained 
by  them.  By  this  I  do  not  mean  to  convey  that  the  efficacy 
of  certain  studies  in  sharpening  the  intelligence,  such,  for  ex¬ 
ample,  as  dialectic  and  mathematics,  was  not  recognised ; 
but  merely  that  the  development  of  mind  as  such  was  not 
the  object  they  had  in  view.  With  the  Athenian  Greeks, 
and  to  some  extent  even  with  the  Spartans,  it  was  otherwise. 
Culture  was  aimed  at  —  a  complete  harmony  of  nature  — 
mind  and  body.  The  object  in  view  with  the  Romans  on  the 
contrary  was  to  make  a  man  apt  for  affairs,  or,  as  with  . 
Quintilian,  a  perfect  orator,  which  included  the  former. 
The  practical  issue  of  all  education  was  never  lost  sight  of. 

Quintilian,  neither  in  speaking  of  music  or  geometry,  sug¬ 
gests  methods  of  procedure,  but  he  says  much  that  is  perti¬ 
nent  with  reference  to  both.  His  remarks  on  the  importance 
and  influence  of  music  are  eloquent  and  recall  the  Ciceronian 
style.  When  speaking  of  the  importance  of  musical  rhythm 
to  the  orator,  he  says  with  epigrammatic  force :  ‘  Both  by  the 
tone  of  voice  and  the  modulation,  music  sounds  forth  grand 
things  in  a  lofty  style,  pleasant  things  sweetly,  ordinary 
things  gently,  and  in  its  whole  art  it  is  in  harmony  with  the 
feelings  that  are  expressed.’ 1  The  musical  education  was  in 
fact  instruction  in  rhythm  and  intonation. 

1  ‘  Et  voce  et  modulatione  grandia  elate,  jucunda  dulciter,  moderata  leniter 
canit,  totaque  arte  conseDtit  cum  eorum  quae  dicuutur  affectibus  ’  (24). 


374 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


As  to  geometry,  Quintilian  argues  not  only  for  its  practical 
utility,  but  also  for  its  use  as  exciting  the  intelligence,  sharp¬ 
ening  the  wits,  and  giving  greater  celerity  of  perception. 
Then  he  shows  that  geometry  is  more  closely  allied  to  logic 
than  to  rhetoric  and  lauds  it  as  an  exercise  in  deductive 
reasoning.  Note  here  that  in  Quintilian’s  scheme  of  educa¬ 
tion,  physical  science  was  included,  because  he  finally  rests 
the  claims  of  geometry  on  its  being  the  engine  whereby  we 
rise  to  a  knowledge  of  the  ratio  mundi  and  learn  that  there 
is  nothing  which  is  not  ordered,  nothing  which  is  fortuitous. 

Elsewhere  (in  the  introduction  to  the  eighth  book)  Quin¬ 
tilian  points  to  the  importance  of  instruction  in  things : 
‘  Curarn  verborum,  reruni  volo  esse  solicitudinem  ’  (I  desire 
that  there  be  care  for  words  but  a  solicitude  for  things)  ; 
again,  ‘  Sit  ergo  cura  elocutionis  quam  maxima,  dum  scimus 
tamen  **dhil  verborum  causa  faciendum,  quum  verba  ipsa 
rerum  gratia  reperta  sint.’  (‘  Let  there  be  the  greatest  pos¬ 
sible  care  for  expression  as  long  as  we  recognise  the  fact  that 
nothing  is  to  be  done  for  the  sake  of  words,  since  words 
themselves  have  been  invented  for  the  sake  of  things.’) 

Quintilian  now  passes  outside  general  education  and  pro¬ 
ceeds  to  discuss  the  training  which  is  peculiar  to  the  future 
orator  only ;  and  although  what  he  says  is  well  deserving  of 
all  who  hope  to  distinguish  themselves  in  the  pulpit  or  par¬ 
liament  or  at  the  bar,  it  bears  only  very  partially  on  the 
question  of  general  education.  He  recommends  the  student 
of  oratory  to  take  lessons  from  an  actor,  but  only  with  a 
view  to  pronuntiatio,  by  which  he  means  both  the  correct  and 
full  pronunciation  of  words,  the  delivery  of  passages  convey¬ 
ing  different  kinds  of  sentiment,  and  the  facial  movements 
to  be  used,  or  rather  to  be  avoided.  As  the  pupil  gets  older, 
he  recommends  the  recitation  of  good  speeches  to  his  master 
in  the  style  he  would  have  to  adopt  in  pleading.  Gesture 
should  be  learned  from  the  masters  in  the  pakestra.  But 
Quintilian  draws  a  strong  line  between  what  is  becoming  in 
an  actor  and  in  an  orator  respectively. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  375 


As  to  the  capacity  of  the  young  to  study  a  great  many 
subjects  together,  Quintilian  gives  expression  to  what  is  char¬ 
acterised  by  soundness  of  judgment  and  freshness,  force,  and 
even  fervour  of  style.  ‘  People,’  he  says,  ‘  who  talk  of  the 
difficulty  of  learning  many  subjects  at  the  same  time,  forget 
the  nature  of  the  young  mind  —  its  facility  of  movement,  its 
pliancy  and  its  interest  in  many  things.  They  also  forget  to 
remember  that  the  doing  of  things  is  not  so  fatiguing  as  cogita- 
tio  or  thought ;  further,  that  children  do  not  put  force  on  them¬ 
selves,  but  are  guided  by  others/  He  also  points  out  the 
refreshment  which  is  obtained  by  varying  studies,  and  even 
by  passing  from  reading  to  writing  about  the  same  subject. 

He  dwells  with  force  on  the  importance  of  early  instruc¬ 
tion  in  any  department  which  a  man  is  afterwards  thoroughly 
to  know,  illustrating  this  by  the  case  of  imported  slaves  who 
are  very  long  of  overcoming  the  difficulties  of  the  Latin 
tongue,  whereas  children  speak  freely  two  years  after  they 
have  begun  to  pronounce  words.  The  Greeks  called  those 
who  excelled  in  their  own  special  art  jocedomatheis  —  that  is 
to  say,  instructed  from  boyhood.  (Plato  in  his  ‘  Laws  ’  also 
speaks  of  this.)  In  brief,  we  try  to  excuse  our  own  sloth  by 
talking  of  the  difficulty  which  attends  the  thorough  study  of 
many  subjects,  says  Quintilian. 

Having  now  come  to  the  close  of  the  second  part  of  a  boy’s 
education,  that  pursued  under  the  grammaticus,  and  given 
him  a  thorough  foundation,  Quintilian  next  hands  him  over 
to  the  rhetor  (what  we  should  call  university  teaching)  and 
the  subjects  to  be  pursued  under  him  are  considered  in  the 
second  book. 


Second  Booh 
Higher  Instruction 

After  discussing  the  age  at  which  a  young  man  should  pass 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  grammaticus  into  the  hands  of  the 
rhetor,  just  as  we  now  discuss  the  age  for  passing  from  a 
High  School  to  an  University,  in  the  course  of  which  he 


376 


PRE- CHRIS TIAN  ED  UCA  TI ON 


remarks  that  the  rhetor  had  for  some  time  been  disposed  to 
leave  part  of  his  proper  function  and  do  the  work  of  the 
grammaticus,  he  dwells  with  great  force  on  the  importance 
of  selecting  instructors  who  will  not  only  afford  an  example 
of  the  strictest  virtue  themselves,  hut  be  prepared  to  exercise 
considerable  sternness  in  controlling  the  morals  of  those  who 
frequent  their  schools. 

Here,  when  endeavouring  to  guide  the  master,  he  gives 
him  advice  which  shows  that  he  has  gone  straight  to  the 
heart  of  the  whole  matter.  Act,  he  says,  as  if  you  were  the 
father  of  the  pupils.  Accept  all  the  responsibilities  which  a 
parent  feels.  Avoid  a  gloomy  austerity  lest  it  give  rise  to 
contempt.  As  a  teacher,  far  removed  from  heat  of  temper, 
but  yet  not  a  compounder  of  faults  which  ought  to  be  cor¬ 
rected  ;  simple  in  teaching,  patient  of  labour,  persistent  and 
steady  rather  than  immoderate  in  your  demands.1  Ready 
with  an  answer  to  all  who  ask  questions  and  asking  ques¬ 
tions  of  those  who  do  not  seek  information.  In  praising  the 
exercises  of  your  pupils  neither  grudging  nor  effusive,  be¬ 
cause  in  the  former  case  there  arises  a  weariness  of  the 
labour  of  preparation,  and  in  the  latter  a  disposition  towards 
carelessness.  In  correcting  what  is  in  need  of  correction,  let 
not  the  teacher  be  bitter,  and  least  of  all  contemptuous,  be¬ 
cause  when  the  master  finds  fault  as  if  he  had  a  personal 
hatred  the  effect  is  to  drive  his  pupils  from  the  design  of 
study.  Daily  let  him  say  many  things  which  his  pupils 
will  carry  away  with  them,  for  the  living  voice  is  more 
potent  than  precepts  which  are  written,  especially  if  the 
pupils  love  and  respect  their  master. 

Quintilian  objects  to  allowing  the  students  to  applaud  each 
other’s  exercises,  as  tending  to  abuse  and  as  leading  the 
pupil  to  look  away  from  the  right  source  of  judgment  which 
is  the  master. 2 

1  As  a  teacher,  ‘  minime  iracundus,  nec  tamen  eorum  quae  emendanda 
erunt  dissimulator,  simplex  in  docendo,  patiens  laboris,  assiduus  potius  quam 
immodicus  ’  (5). 

2  Chapter  3. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  377 

He  is  now  led  aside  for  a  moment  to  animadvert  on  the 
tendency  of  parents  to  think  that  a  second-rate  or  third-rate 
master  will  do  well  enough  for  their  sons  before  they  reach 
a  certain  age  and  while  yet  in  the  elements  of  a  subject,  and 
he  points  out  the  fallacy  which  underlies  this  view.  He 
also  maintains  that  the  ablest  man  is  the  best  teacher. 

I  may  remark  that  it  is  commonly  said  that  men  who  are 
profoundly  versed  in  any  subject  often  teach  it  very  indifferently. 
I  am  disposed  to  agree  with  Quintilian  that  the  ablest  and 
profoundest  scholar  will  teach  most  simply,  most  clearly,  and 
most  successfully.  It  certainly  is  the  case  that  many  men 
of  profound  attainments  in  a  subject  cannot  teach  it ;  but  it 
is  equally  true  that  more  men  who  have  superficial  acquaint¬ 
ance  with  a  subject  cannot  teach  it.  This  is  because  both 
alike  want  the  disposition  to  teach  and  the  faculty  of  teach¬ 
ing.  The  question  really  is  :  given  two  men  of  equal  teach¬ 
ing  disposition  and  faculty,  which  of  these  will  teach  a 
subject  best,  the  man  of  shallow,  or  the  man  of  profound 
attainment  ?  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  answer 
to  this,  and  we  must  agree  with  Quintilian ;  but  we  must 
beware  of  concluding  with  him  that  profound  knowledge 
implies  the  fitness  to  teach.  A  recent  writer  in  reply  to  a 
remark  by  Dr.  Pusey  who  had  said  that  a  man  who  knew  a 
subject  thoroughly  could  teach  it,  answered  with  great  point 
that  it  should  rather  be  said  that  *  a  man  who  could  teach  a 
subject  thoroughly,  knew  it.’  On  the  other  hand,  men  of 
known  superficiality  often  seem  to  teach  exceedingly  well. 
This  is  in  the  experience  of  us  all ;  but  I  believe  it  to  be  a 
delusion.  They  teach  well,  though  their  knowledge  be  super¬ 
ficial  ;  but  it  is  necessary  to  note  that  their  teaching  also  is 
superficial,  and  though  it  may  serve  well  enough  the  objects 
of  those  who  desire  a  smattering  and  seek  display,  it  is  never 
sound  teaching.  It  cannot  possibly  be  so.  The  very  words 
used  by  such  an  instructor  in  teaching  will  want  that  exact¬ 
ness  and  precision  without  which  there  is  no  true  learning. 
They  will  not  represent  realities  either  of  nature  or  thought, 
but  confused  and  loose  images  of  realities  only,  while  all 


378 


PRE-  CHRISTIAN  ED  UCA  TION 


that  the  subject  of  the  lesson  truly  suggests  will  be  left 
outside. 

Some  of  Quintilian’s  words  in  this  connection  are  worth 
quoting :  e.g.  ‘  He  will  not  count  that  man  among  precep¬ 
tors  at  all  who  will  not  give  care  to  small  things.  Method, 
which  is  of  such  moment  in  teaching,  is  plainest  and  simplest 
with  the  most  learned :  things  taught  by  the  most  learned 
are  also  so  taught  that  they  are  more  easily  understood  and 
more  lucid ;  the  less  genuine  ability  a  man  has,  the  more 
does  he  attempt  to  raise  himself  up  and  stretch  himself  out : 
the  less  he  is  competent  the  more  obscure  he  will  be.’ 

Let  a  preceptor,  then,  he  concludes,  be  eminent  for  his 
eloquence  [or,  as  we  should  say,  his  learning]  and  for  his 
moral  character,  that  so,  like  Phoenix  the  tutor  of  Achilles, 
(‘  II.’  ix.),  he  may  train  his  pupils  both  to  speak  and  to  act 
[i.  e.  to  know  and  to  do]. 1 

Quintilian  now  passes  from  general  observations  and 
enters  more  fully  on  the  duties  proper  to  the  Ehetorician, 
and  we  shall  here  part  company  with  him.  The  extent  to 
which  the  art  of  oratory  was  cultivated  and  the  laborious, 
and  (as  we  now  think)  vain  and  futile  detail  into  which  it 
was  carried  in  ancient  times  has  little  save  a  historic  interest. 
In  its  historical  aspects,  however,  it  is  for  the  educational¬ 
ist  worthy  of  separate  study. 

There  are,  however,  some  good  remarks  on  the  training  of 
boys  in  narrative  composition ;  and  also  on  the  nature  of 
boys  themselves.  He  prefers,  he  says,  the  boy  whose  com¬ 
positions  show  a  certain  fecundity,  although  they  may  be 
crude  and  characterised  by  want  of  judgment  and  taste. 
This  gives  hope  of  future  strength.  The  cure  of  fertility  is 
easy ;  but  no  toil  will  overcome  barrenness.  He  has  little 
hope  of  that  kind  of  nature  in  boys  which  shows  itself  in 
judgment  anticipating  growth  of  mind.2  This  is,  I  think, 

1  Chapter  4. 

2  ‘  Facile  remedium  est  ubertatis  ;  sterilia  nullo  labore  vincuntur.  Ilia  mihi 
in  pueris  natura  minimum  spei  dederit  in  qua  ingenium  judicio  praesumitur. ’ 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES 


379 


what  Goethe  calls  a  matured  judgment  in  an  immature  mind. 
So  he  objects  to  a  dry  master  —  magister  aridus  —  just  as 
one  objects  to  a  dry  hard  soil  for  tender  plants.  Moisture 
is  needed.  Such  masters  make  their  boys  small  and  narrow. 
In  learning  merely  to  avoid  faults  under  such  masters,  the 
pupils  fall  into  the  greatest  fault  of  all  —  that  they  have  no 
virtues.  The  teaching  of  such  a  man  I  may  call  ‘  negative  ’ 
teaching. 

For  myself  I  am  persuaded  that  in  the  teaching  of  Latin 
and  Greek,  and  still  more  of  our  own  tongue,  the  culture  of. 
the  whole  man  which  flows  from  the  study  of  literary  expres¬ 
sion  and  art,  is  seldom  yet  adequately  understood.  It  is  to 
this  capacity  for  giving  aesthetic  and  moral  culture  as  well 
as  a  close  intellectual  discipline,  that  we  must  finally  rest 
the  claims  of  the  ancient  classics  on  the  continuous  attention 
of  youth.  Not  that  I  in  any  way  depreciate  the  work  of  the 
grammaticus ;  very  far  from  it,  for  I  hold  that  there  can  be 
no  strict  and,  therefore,  no  genuine  culture  which  is  not 
based  on  the  studies  in  which  it  is  the  special  function  of 
the  grammaticus  to  guide  boys.  For  those  who  hold  these 
views,  and  who  desire  to  give  this  culture,  the  study  of  what 
Quintilian  now  says  will  be  fruitful.1 

He  first  lays  stress  on  reading  in  class  from  good  authors, 
preferring  to  take  the  best  authors  at  once.  At  the  age  at 
which  boys  went  to  the  rhetor  there  could  be  little  difficulty 
in  introducing  them  at  once  to  the  best  literature  of  their 
country.  It  is  only  when  good  literature  is  given  to  minds 
as  yet  unripe  for  it,  that  it  excites  aversion,  and  rightly  does 
so.  In  studying  any  piece  of  literature,  the  teacher,  Quin¬ 
tilian  says,  must  direct  attention  to  the  circumstances  under 
which  the  writing  that  his  pupils  are  studying  was  produced, 
its  logical  arrangement  and  persuasive  power,  pointing  out  in 
brief  all  the  virtues  of  language  and  form.  He  even  thinks 
that  bad  specimens  of  oratory  may  be  taken,  that  their  vices 
of  language,  style,  and  arrangement  may  be  pointed  out. 

1  Chapter  5. 


380 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


Such  writings,  he  says,  should  be  commented  on  to  show 
that  notwithstanding  their  popularity,  they  are  full  of 
obscurities,  inappropriateness  of  language,  turgidity,  mean¬ 
ness,  effeminacy,  &c.  —  the  very  reason,  indeed,  why  many 
praise  them.  For  there  is  a  tendency  (especially  I  may  add 
on  the  part  of  youth)  to  think  that  a  direct  manner  of  expres¬ 
sion  and  a  natural  utterance  are  destitute  of  genius,  while 
language  out  of  the  ordinary  course  is  held  to  be  in  some 
way  more  select  and  worthy  of  admiration.  The  preceptor 
also  will  test  his  pupils  by  asking  questions  so  as  to  obviate 
listlessness  and  inattention,  and  thereby  also  to  lead  to  inde¬ 
pendence  of  judgment;  for  we  teach  in  order  that  teaching 
may  not  be  always  necessary.  This  kind  of  literary  training 
Quintilian  thinks  to  he  of  more  value  than  the  study  of  all 
the  treatises  on  rhetoric  that  ever  were  written. 

Quintilian  is  of  opinion  that,  while  the  best  writers  should 
he  read,  those  should  be  first  studied  whose  writings  are 
most  transparent,  postponing,  for  example,  Sallust  to  Livy. 
He  also  thinks  that  the  study  of  the  antique  writers  of  a 
language  should  come  last,  or  at  least  only  after  the  style 
and  judgment  are  formed,  for  the  reason  that  while  they  are 
weighty  with  thought,  their  expression  is  faulty  (though 
doubtless  excellent  for  its  time).  The  pupils,  not  being 
competent  to  appreciate  the  thought  fully,  are  apt  to  run 
into  an  imitation  of  a  style  alien  to  their  own  time,  and  to 
imagine  that  so  they  resemble  these  great  writers  of  antiquity. 
As  to  contemporary  writers,  however  good  they  may  be,  he 
holds  that  we  ought  to  postpone  the  reading  of  them  also, 
lest  imitation  should  take  precedence  of  the  power  of  sound 
judgment.1 

Quintilian,  speaking  of  reproduction,  thinks  that  when  a 
theme  is  given,  the  master  should  for  some  time  at  least  give 
instructions  how  it  is  to  be  worked  out  before  the  pupil 
begins  to  work  at  it ;  and  not  content  himself  with  merely 
finding  fault  when  it  is  done.  He  also  is  of  opinion  that 

1  Chapter  5. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  381 


pupils  should  rarely  be  allowed  to  recite  their  own  com¬ 
positions,  and  that  the  effort  of  memory  necessary  to 
do  this  will  be  better  expended  by  learning  by  heart 
and  reciting  the  best  passages  of  eminent  writers.  The 
memory  will  be  better  exercised  in  this  way,  and  the  pupils 
will  also  acquire  a  good  stock  of  phrases  and  forms  of 
expression.1 

He  now  deals  with  a  question  often  discussed  since 
Quintilian,  viz. :  whether  the  peculiar  intellectual  tendencies 
of  various  boys  should  be  specially  cultivated,  Nature,  as  it 
were,  giving  us  a  hint  in  what  direction  it  desires  different 
boys  to  excel.  Quintilian,  as  aiming  at  producing  the  perfect 
orator,  which  is  his  expression  for  the  perfectly  educated 
man,  could  not  of  course  take  this  view.  While  the  special 
talent  has  to  be  alone  cultivated  in  those  whose  general 
capacity  is  weak,  and  who  will  not  yield  any  return  to 
attempts  to  educate  him  all  round  ;  yet  in  all  stronger  natures 
we,  while  promoting  the  clear  purposes  of  nature  in  different 
boys,  must  yet  give  general  training  concurrently.  At  the 
same  time  it  would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  strive  after  what 
manifestly  cannot  be  accomplished,  and  wrong  to  turn  a 
youth  away  from  that  which  he  can  do  best  to  something 
which  he  can  do,  but  not  so  well.2 

Turning  now  from  the  teacher  to  the  pupil,  he  calls  on  them 
to  love  their  teachers  as  well  as  their  studies,  and  to  regard 
them  as  parentes  non  quidem  corporum  sed  mentium .  They 
will  thus  come  together  with  pleasure  and  alacrity ;  found 
fault  with,  they  will  not  be  angry,  praised  they  will 
be  glad,  by  their  zeal  they  will  deserve  their  teacher’s 
love.3  It  is  the  duty  of  teachers  to  teach,  but  equally 
of  learners  to  learn.  And  then  he  concludes  with  an  ob¬ 
servation  which  merits  to  be  inscribed  on  the  porch  of  every 
school. 

1  Chapter  7.  2  Chapter  8. 

3  ‘  Einendati  non  irascentur,  laudati  gaudebunt,  ut  sint  carissimi  studio 
merebuntur.’ 


382 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


As  you  may  sow  seeds  to  no  purpose  unless  the  furrows,  soft¬ 
ened  beforehand,  nourish  them,  so  eloquence  [education]  declines 
to  grow  and  thrive  save  by  the  sympathetic  concord  of  giver  and 
receiver.1 

He  next  refers  to  the  practice  in  the  ancient  schools  of 
encouraging  pleadings  on  imaginary  or  fictitious  cases  with 
a  view  to  the  formation  of  the  pleader,  and  recommends 
the  practice  with  this  precaution,  that  these  should  not  be 
vague  and  turgid  but  as  like  as  possible  to  the  reality. 
Even  names  should  be  put  in  to  give  them  a  more  real 
character,  while  at  the  same  time  elegance  is  to  be  aimed 
at.2  And  these  remarks  lead  him  to  a  somewhat  severe 
criticism  of  those  who  think  that  no  training  in  oratory  is 
needed  and  that  nature  and  natural  force  are  to  be  trusted. 
The  observations  made  here  strike  me  as  applying  with 
great  force  to  those  who  hold  that  education  is  a  subject 
which  it  is  superfluous  for  educators  to  study.  At  the 
same  time,  he  says  that  while  art  is  necessary  to  the  study 
of  art,  yet  the  art  must  be  of  a  general  or  universal  kind 
and  not  descend  to  petty  directions,  but  leave  freedom  for 
the  adaptation  of  an  orator  to  the  circumstances  under 
which  the  oration  is  delivered.  In  like  manner,  I  would 
say :  —  It  is  not  our  business  to  give  ‘  quasdam  leges  im- 
mutabili  necessitate  constrictas  studiosis  educandi’  (certain 
laws  bound  together  by  an  immutable  necessity  to  those 
desirous  of  educating),  but  rather  principles  and  general 
methods.3 

In  the  nineteenth  chapter  he  recurs  to  the  question 
whether  Nature  or  learning  does  most  for  the  orator,  and 
comes  to  the  conclusion  that  if  you  consider  each  as  sub¬ 
sisting  independently  of  the  other,  Nature  does  most;  if 
both  co-exist  moderately  but  in  equal  proportions,  Nature 


1  ‘  Sicut  .  .  .  frustra  sparseris  semina  nisi  ilia  prsemolitus  foverit  sulcus, 
sic  eloquentia  [for  which  read  educatio ]  coalescere  [grow  and  thrive]  negat, 
nisi  sociata  tradentis  accipientisque  concordia.’ 

2  Chapters  11  and  12. 


8  Chapter  13. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  383 


does  most ;  but  in  the  finished  or  perfect  orator  learning  or 
art  does  most. 


The  next  five  books  of  Quintilian  deal  with  invention  in 
oratory  and  the  arranging  of  what  is  invented  —  the  logic 
of  an  argumentative  discourse. 

In  the  introduction  to  the  eighth  book  he  gives  a  clear 
and  excellent  summary  of  the  instructions  he  has  laid 
down  as  to  the  rules  of  oratory  under  the  various  heads  of 
invention  and  arrangement.  In  modern  times  we  should 
consider  a  young  man’s  time  wasted  who  spent  it  over 
these  books,  and  yet  it  is  generally  allowed  that  Quintilian 
had  simplified  the  subject  of  rhetoric  considerably.  In 
the  prooemium,  Quintilian  seems  to  become  half  aware  of 
this  himself.  Many  things,  he  says,  should  be  taught  by 
Nature  herself,  and  precepts  should  not  so  much  seem  to 
have  been  invented  by  teachers  as  observed  by  them  as  they 
occurred.  Here  we  have  a  hint  as  to  the  true  method  of 
teaching  rhetoric,  or  the  perfect  in  expression,  viz.  by 
reading  and  criticising  excellent  models.  And  what  is 
this  but  evolving  the  abstract  out  of  the  concrete  along 
with  the  pupil :  in  brief,  proceeding  analytically  and  in¬ 
ductively  with  a  view  to  the  discovery  of  the  general 
and  the  abstract  ?  It  seems  to  me  that  rhetoric  ought  to 
be  taught  as  grammar  ought  to  be  taught ;  and  by  the  study 
of  rhetoric  I  mean  (1)  the  study  of  the  logical  consecution 
of  an  argumentum  as  uttered ;  and  (2)  the  study  of  its 
aesthetic  characteristics. 

Quintilian  condemns,  as  strongly  as  any  sense-realist  of 
modern  times  could,  those  who  ‘  grow  old  in  the  empty 
pursuit  of  words’  ( quodam  inani  verborum  studio  senescunt 
(Lib.  viii.  Procem.)).  Our  business  is  to  see  to  things,  that 
is,  facts  and  thoughts,  first,  and  thereafter  to  fit  the  words 
closely  to  these.  By  ‘  things  *  Quintilian  meant  realities  of 
thought  as  well  as  of  sense.1  What,  then,  would  Quin- 

1  This  passage  has  often  been  misapplied. 


384 


PRE-  CHRISTIAN  ED  UCA  TION 


tilian  have  said  of  Latin  verses  and  elegant  Latin  prose 
for  English  youth  if  he  thus  discouraged  inane  verborum 
studium  in  Latin  for  a  Latin  ?  The  only  possible  defence 
is  that  Latin  verse-writing  cultivates  the  faculty  of  expres¬ 
sion  and  the  aesthetic  perceptions  generally  in  connection 
with  the  language  in  which  we  think  —  our  vernacular. 
Does  it  do  so  ?  I  do  not  speak  of  poets,  for  they  stand 
apart,  it  may  be  held ;  but  are  our  best  prose  writers  and 
our  best  aesthetic  critics  the  men  who  wrote  the  best  Latin 
and  Greek  verses  at  school  and  college  ?  Is  it  not  in  point 
of  fact  generally  quite  otherwise  ?  Are  not  such  linguistic 
performances  actually  hurtful  ?  Does  not  Nature  avenge 
itself  on  those  who  think  too  much  of  words  instead  of 
things  ?  Do  they  not  belong  to  the  XoyoSaiSaXoL,  cunning 
word-artificers  of  whom  Plato  speaks  ?  Such  linguistic 
tours  de  force  are  very  clever  exercitations  —  the  very  high¬ 
est  of  clever  exercitations,  we  may  admit.  But  they  are  no 
more.  If  they  are  to  be  cultivated  at  all  (beyond  the  stage 
of  simple  translation  of  English  words  into  Latin  verses 
with  a  view  to  quantities),  the  cultivation  of  them  should 
oe  confined  to  specialists  —  men  who  mean  to  live  by  Latin 
and  Greek.  For  them  it  is  the  efflorescence  of  their  studies. 
Why,  indeed,  do  we  learn  Latin  or  Greek  ?  For  the  sake 
of  the  literature  these  tongues  enshrine  of  course,  and  for 
the  sake  of  historic  culture ;  but  also  for  the  sake  of  lan¬ 
guage-discipline  and  that  training  in  literary  perception 
which  is  aesthetic  discipline.  We  assuredly  cannot  attain 
our  end  unless  we  write  Latin  or  Greek  prose,  and  also  do 
a  little  in  versification.  This  may  be  admitted ;  but  if  we 
keep  in  view  the  end  proposed  —  linguistic  discipline,  the 
most  important  of  all  possible  disciplines,  because  lan¬ 
guage  is  the  reflex  of  thought,  and,  so  regarded,  covers  the 
whole  of  life  —  we  shall  restrict  our  exercitations  in  ancient 
tongues  within  narrow  limits.  In  Latin  prose,  e.g.  syntactical 
accuracy  we  must  have,  and  also  Latinity  —  that  is  to  say, 
an  approach  to  the  Latin  cast  or  mould  of  expression :  in 
verse,  however,  we  shall  confine  ourselves  to  the  transla- 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  385 


tion  of  English  sense  into  Latin  verse  for  the  sake  of  quanti¬ 
ties  and  of  familiarising  the  pupil  with  the  poetical  idiom 
of  the  Eomans ;  but  beyond  this  we  shall  attempt  nothing 
save  as  rare  and  voluntary  exercises  for  the  few.  So  with 
Greek.  Words,  as  Quintilian  well  says,  were  invented  for 
the  sake  of  things,  not  things  for  the  sake  of  words. 

When  Quintilian  speaks  of  the  art  of  elocution,  by  which 
he  means  the  speaking  forth,  that  is  to  say,  the  form  or  style 
of  what  has  been  conceived  in  the  mind,  he  holds  that  this 
requires  much  teaching  and  study.  At  the  same  time  he 
never  loses  sight  of  the  fact  that  thought,  reality,  truth  of 
conception  and  aim,  lie  at  the  basis  of  all  style.  ‘  The  best 
words,’  he  says,  ‘  generally  attach  themselves  to  our  subject 
and  show  themselves  by  their  own  light;  whereas  we  set 
ourselves  to  seek  for  words  as  if  they  were  always  hidden 
and  trying  to  keep  themselves  from  being  discovered.  We 
never  consider  that  they  are  to  be  found  close  to  the  subject 
on  which  we  have  to  speak,  but  look  for  them  in  strange 
places,  and  we  do  violence  to  them  when  we  have  found 
them.’  Again,  in  concluding  his  introduction  he  says,  ‘  Let 
the  greatest  possible  care  be  bestowed  on  expression,  pro¬ 
vided  we  bear  in  mind  that  nothing  is  to  be  done  for  the  sake 
of  words,  since  words  themselves  were  invented  for  the  sake 
of  things,  and  those  words  are  most  to  be  commended  which 
express  our  thoughts  best  and  produce  the  impression  which 
we  desire.’  He  also  says  (xii.  1.  30),  ‘  Nee  quidquam  non 
diserte  quod  honeste  dicitur  ’  (nothing  which  is  honestly  and 
truly  expressed  is  without  eloquence).  While  there  is  much 
that  is  too  technical  for  modern  taste  in  the  eighth  and  ninth 
books,  I  doubt  if  we  could  not  extract  from  them  more  sound 
criticism  of  style  and  of  the  way  of  teaching  ‘  elocution  ’ 
(which  is  style)  than  from  any  modern  treatise  that  I  have 
heard  of. 

We  see  that  Quintilian,  and  not  only  Quintilian  but  the 
ancients  generally,  meant  by  oratory  the  utterance  of  thought 
on  every  variety  of  subject  in  fit  words  adorned  by  such 
graces  as  the  orator  could  command.  We  do  not  in  modern 

25 


386 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


times  believe  that  any  instruction  in  rhetorical  forms  can 
give  more  than  an  artificial,  and  therefore  a  bad,  rhetoric  or 
style.  And  in  truth  Quintilian  sees  this  clearly  enough. 
At  the  same  time  there  is  such  a  thing  as  criticism ;  and  it 
is  to  this  that  Quintilian  would  introduce  the  student  with 
a  view  to  self-criticism,  and  so  far  there  is  no  doubt  that  a 
student  so  trained  would  be  preserved  from  many  faults. 
But  no  amount  of  such  training  would  make  him  an  orator. 

That  Quintilian  had  himself  this  view  of  his  subject  is 
everywhere  manifest,  not  least  in  his  interpretation  of 
oratory  as  the  general  aim  of  education.  It  was  the  general 
aim  only  because  the  utterance  of  thought  (there  being  first 
the  thought)  was  the  highest  manifestation  of  human  reason. 
Batio  and  Oratio  summed  up  the  intellectual  excellence  of 
man.  This  was  the  position  of  Isocrates  also.  To  reach 
perfect  utterance,  according  to  Quintilian,  was  impossible, 
without  knowledge  of  a  wide  and  various  kind  —  philoso¬ 
phy,  literature,  science ;  and  besides  these,  personal  virtue. 
Thus  the  Roman  educational  aim,  like  the  Greek,  was  a  lofty 
one.  One  can  easily  understand  how  the  common  ruck  of 
teachers  in  the  Roman  Empire  would  hasten  to  their  end 
and  attract  pupils  who  hoped  by  a  little  study  of  figures, 
tropes,  and  other  rhetorical  devices  to  become  orators  ‘in 
twelve  lessons.’  The  quick  degradation  of  the  educational 
aim  of  men  like  Isocrates,  Cicero,  and  Quintilian,  was  cer¬ 
tain,  because  it  was  so  easy.  Lucian’s  satirical  observations 
on  sophists  and  orators,  about  150  years  later,  were  doubtless 
more  than  justified. 

But  oratory,  as  aim,  would  have  been  even  in  all  ages 
justified,  had  Quintilian’s  conception  of  the  qualifications 
for  it  been  adopted ;  above  all,  had  men  never  lost  sight  of 
things,  not  things  of  sense  alone  or  chiefly,  but  things  of 
mind,  as  the  main,  though  not  exclusive,  object  of  study. 
The  tendency  of  forms  and  formulae  to  usurp  the  place  of 
realities  is  the  characteristic  not  only  of  the  history  of 
religion  in  all  countries,  but  also  of  literature,  science,  and 
philosophy.  The  vestment  is  more  regarded  than  the  body. 


TEE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  387 


It  is  only  the  single-minded  pursuit  of  truth  in  all  depart¬ 
ments  of  thought  for  its  own  sake  that  keeps  oratory,  style, 
religion,  and  politics  ever  living  and  true. 

The  ninth  and  tenth  books  constitute  a  treatise  on 
style,  and  are  full  of  excellent  advice ;  but  here  again 
whatever  rules  Quintilian  prescribes,  he  seems  to  be 
always  conscious  of  the  small  part  these  play  in  forming 
the  orator,  compared  with  a  knowledge  of  what  has  been 
done  by  others,  and  constant  practice  by  the  student  him¬ 
self.  Write,  read,  mark,  and  imitate  excellencies  of  style. 

I  know  nothing  likely  to  be  of  more  value  to  young  men 
in  a  modern  class  of  rhetoric  and  literature  than  the  tenth 
book.  Read  for  example  the  third  and  fourth  chapters. 
How  excellent  is  a  saying  like  this,  when  Quintilian 
speaks  of  polishing  the  style  of  any  literary  production, 
that  ‘the  file  should  polish  our  work  but  not  wear  it  to 
nothing.’  That  this  tenth  book  should  be  so  seldom  pre¬ 
sented  for  graduation  examinations  is  evidence  that  Latin 
has  not  been  taught  with  a  view  to  what  the  literature  can 
teach  us,  but  only  for  grammatical  and  examination  purposes. 
Where  this  can  be  said  the  university  is,  thus  and  so  far,  a 
mere  secondary  school. 

The  second  chapter  of  Book  XI.  contains  a  very  inter¬ 
esting  discussion  of  memory,  and  is,  moreover,  historically 
interesting  as  summing  up  all  the  ancients  knew  on  this 
subject. 

The  third  chapter  affords  much  instruction  to  both  actors 
and  preachers  as  well  as  public  speakers,  and  should  be 
studied  by  them. 

In  the  twelfth  book  Quintilian  gathers  up  the  threads  of 
his  long  discourse.  He  has  shown  that  to  be  an  orator  one 
must  be  carried  through  a  thorough  discipline,  and  that  all 
literature  and  science  must  be  studied.  Now  he  concentrates 
himself  on  the  ethical  characteristics  of  the  true  orator,  the 
vir  bonus  peritus  dicendi,  and  shows  the  necessity  of  high 
character  to  genuine  success  in  oratory. 


388  PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 

How  can  a  man  become  an  orator  who  is  deficient  in  dis¬ 
cernment,  judgment,  and  prudence?  The  vicious  man  is 
deficient  in  these  qualities.  How  can  he  prosecute  studies 
with  a  single  aim  to  excellence  unless  he  be  temperate  ? 
How  can  the  unjust  man  be  trusted  to  speak  of  justice? 
Who  is  most  likely  to  attain  the  ends  of  oratory  —  the  per¬ 
suading  of  those  whom  he  addresses  —  the  good  and  truthful 
man,  or  the  vicious  man  who  has  no  high  moral  standard  ? 
Quintilian  always  distinguishes  between  the  merely  ‘elo¬ 
quent  ’  man,  and  the  perfect  orator.  ‘  What  I  have  in  view/ 
he  says,  ‘is  a  man  who,  being  possessed  of  the  highest 
natural  genius,  stores  his  mind  thoroughly  with  the  most 
valuable  kinds  of  knowledge,  a  man  sent  by  the  gods  to  do 
honour  to  the  world,  and  such  as  no  preceding  age  has 
known,  a  man  in  every  way  eminent  and  excellent,  a  thinker 
of  the  best  thoughts  and  a  speaker  of  the  best  words  to  fit 
these  thoughts.’  Even  in  inferior  employments,  as  in  the 
courts  of  law,  such  a  man  will  be  great,  ‘  but  his  powers  will 
shine  with  the  highest  lustre  on  great  occasions,  when  the 
counsels  of  the  senate  are  to  be  directed,  and  the  people  to  be 
guided  from  error  into  rectitude.’  Such  a  man  Vergil  de¬ 
picts  in  ‘  iEn.’  i.  148.  Such  an  orator  plants  his  feelings  in 
the  breasts  of  others  because  they  are  first  active  in  his  own 
breast. 

With  this  high  standard  in  view  a  man  must  study  phil¬ 
osophy  — -  not  that  he  may  be  a  philosopher  who  simply  dis¬ 
cusses  and  prescribes,  but  a  ‘  Romanus  sapiens  ’ :  that  is  to 
say,  a  man  who  carries  his  philosophy  into  civil  life.  Phil¬ 
osophy  is  divided  into  physics,  ethics,  and  dialectics.  By 
physics  or  natural  philosophy  Quintilian  (curiously  enough) 
understands  the  general  philosophy  of  life  and  man,  includ¬ 
ing  nature  and  religion.  It  is  not  necessary  for  a  student  to 
attach  himself  to  any  sect  of  philosophers ;  but  only  to 
study  philosophy,  and  get  what  is  noblest  and  best  in  it  for 
the  formation  of  his  own  character.  And  in  saying  this, 
Quintilian,  in  my  opinion,  defines  the  object  of  philosophic 
study  in  an  university  course  even  now.  In  this  part  of  his 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  389 


treatise  Quintilian  again  shows  how  small  a  part  the  mere 
rules  of  the  rhetorician  play  in  the  forming  of  the  orator,  as 
compared  with  the  philosopher,  by  quoting  with  approval 
Cicero  as  saving  ‘  non  tantuni  se  debere  scholis  rhetorum 

v  O 

quantum  Academiae  spatiis  [gardens] 5  (‘De  Orat.’  2,  23). 

When  we  say  that  Quintilian  looked  to  the  study  of  liter¬ 
ature  and  philosophy  as  that  which  was  to  make  the  finished 
orator,  let  it  not  be  supposed  that  he  ignored  the  study  of 
nature.  Even  into  the  secondary  school  —  the  school  of  the 
grammaticus  —  mathematics  and  science  entered,  as  I  have 
shown  in  its  proper  place,  and  it  was  taken  up  in  the  higher 
course. 

The  following  chapters  of  this  book  deal  with  the  special 
qualifications  of  the  pleader,  such  as  a  knowledge  of  the  civil 
law,  &c.  In  the  tenth  chapter  we  have  an  interesting  survey 
of  Greek  painting  and  sculpture,  and  a  parallelism  drawn 
between  the  plastic  arts  and  oratory. 

The  concluding  chapter  contains  a  vigorous  and  eloquent 
incitement  to  study  and  to  the  pursuit  of  all  excellence. 


CHAPTER  YI 

EDUCATION  IN  IMPERIAL  TIMES 
The  classical  decadence 

Throughout  Quintilian’s  treatise,  while  rules  of  composi¬ 
tion  and  of  the  literary  presentation  of  thought  —  above 
all,  of  oratorical  expression  —  receive  ample  treatment,  the 
author  is  always  recurring  to  the  substance  of  knowledge  and 
literature.  The  discipline,  the  gravity,  and  moral  earnest¬ 
ness  of  the  Roman  are  always  to  the  front,  and  these  he 
would  harmonise  with  Hellenic  ideals.  Though  himself  a 
provincial,  he  is  always  the  grave  conservative  Roman :  not 
by  any  means  so  Hellenic  and  anti-Roman  as  Cicero  and  his 
friends  had  been.  His  aims  are  not  higher  than  those  attrib- 
uted  to  Isocrates,  but  his  mode  of  attaining  them  is  better, 


390 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


as  far  as  we  know ;  and  this  because  he  takes  up  the  whole 
question  of  the  education  of  a  man.  He  wrote  at  a  critical 
time  for  the  ancient  world ;  hut  he  was  powerless  to  arrest 
the  downward  progress  of  the  higher  education.  His  book, 
says  Mommsen,1  ‘  is  one  of  the  most  excellent  we  possess 
from  Roman  antiquity,  pervaded  by  fine  taste  and  rare  judg¬ 
ment,  simple  in  feeling  as  in  presentation,  instructive  with¬ 
out  weariness,  pleasing  without  effort,  contrasting  sharply 
and  designedly  with  the  fashionable  literature  that  was  so 
rich  in  phrases  and  so  empty  of  ideas.’ 

The  evils  of  which  Tacitus,  in  the  ‘  He  Oratorihus,’  com¬ 
plains,  and  which  were  to  he  found  in  Gaul  and  Spain  as 
well  as  at  Rome  and  in  the  East,  were  already  visible,  if  not 
conspicuous,  when  Quintilian  began  to  teach.  The  ‘  De 
Oratorihus’  must  have  appeared  about  74  a.d.  (Bahr,  ii.  330), 
and  therefore  about  five  or  six  years  after  Quintilian  opened 
his  school.2  The  language  of  Tacitus  is,  however,  wholly  that 
of  a  laudator  temporis  acti,  yet  we  find  in  his  protest  so 
vivid  a  picture  of  his  own  conception  of  former  ages  and  of 
contemporary  evils,  that  I  may  with  advantage  to  the  student 
of  education  here  quote  from  him. 

1  It  was  accordingly  usual  with  our  ancestors,  when  a  lad  was 
being  prepared  for  public  speaking,  as  soon  as  he  was  fully 
trained  by  home  discipline  and  his  mind  was  stored  with  culture, 
to  have  him  taken  by  his  father  or  his  relatives  to  the  orator  who 
held  the  highest  rank  in  the  state.  The  hoy  used  to  accompany 
and  attend  him  and  be  present  at  all  his  speeches,  alike  in  the  law- 
courts  and  the  assembly,  and  thus  he  picked  up  the  art  of  repartee 
and  became  habituated  to  the  strife  of  words,  and  indeed,  I  may 
almost  say,  learnt  how  to  fight  in  battle.  Thereby  young  men 
acquired,  from  the  first,  great  experience  and  confidence,  and  a  very 
large  stock  of  discrimination,  for  they  were  studying  in  broad  day¬ 
light,  in  the  very  thick  of  the  conflict,  where  no  one  can  say  any- 

1  Book  viii.  cap.  2  of  Hist,  of  Provinces  of  Roman  Empire. 

2  Tactitus  was  a  man  of  letters  who  wrote  always  with  a  view  to  literary  and 
dramatic  effect.  He  had  also  very  strong  prejudices  and  a  powerfully  satirical 
vein.  We  must  take  all  he  says  cum  grano ,  if  I  may  venture  to  say  so. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES 


391 


tiling  foolish  or  self-contradictory  without  its  being  refuted  by  the 
judge  or  ridiculed  by  the  opponent,  or,  last  of  all,  repudiated  by  the 
very  counsel  with  him.  Thus,  from  the  beginning,  they  were  im¬ 
bued  with  true  and  genuine  eloquence,  and,  although  they  attached 
themselves  to  one  pleader,  still  they  became  acquainted  with  all 
advocates  of  their  own  standing  in  a  multitude  of  cases  before  the 
courts.  They  had,  too,  abundant  experience  of  the  popular  ear,  in 
all  its  greatest  varieties,  and  with  this  they  could  easily  ascertain 
what  was  liked  or  disapproved  in  each  speaker.  Thus,  they  were 
not  in  want  of  a  teacher  of  the  very  best  and  choicest  kind  who 
could  show  them  eloquence  in  her  true  features,  not  in  a  mere  re¬ 
semblance;  nor  did  they  lack  opponents  and  rivals,  who  fought 
with  actual  steel,  not  with  a  wooden  sword,  and  the  audience,  too, 
was  always  crowded,  always  changing,  made  up  of  unfriendly  as 
well  as  of  admiring  critics,  so  that  neither  success  nor  failure  could 
be  disguised.  You  know,  of  course,  that  eloquence  wins  its  great 
and  enduring  fame  quite  as  much  from  the  benches  of  our  oppo¬ 
nents  as  from  those  of  our  friends,  nay  more,  its  rise  from  that 
quarter  is  steadier  and  its  growth  surer.  Undoubtedly  it  was 
under  such  teachers  that  the  youth  of  whom  I  am  speaking,  the 
disciple  of  orators,  the  listener  in  the  forum,  the  student  in  the 
law-courts,  was  trained  and  practised  by  the  experiences  of  others. 
The  laws  he  learnt  by  daily  hearing,  the  faces  of  the  judges  were 
familiar  to  him,  the  ways  of  popular  assemblies  were  continually 
before  his  eyes ;  he  had  frequent  experience  of  the  ear  of  the 
people,  and  whether  he  undertook  a  prosecution  or  a  defence,  he 
was  at  once  singly  and  alone  equal  to  any  case.  We  still  read 
with  admiration  the  speeches  in  which  Lucius  Crassus,  in  his  nine¬ 
teenth,  Caesar  and  Asinius  Pollio  in  their  twenty-first  year,  Calvus, 
when  very  little  older,  denounced,  respectively,  Carbo,  Dolabella, 
Cato,  and  Vatinius. 

‘  But  in  these  days  we  have  our  youths  taken  to  the  professor’s 
theatre  —  the  rhetoricians,  as  we  call  them.  The  class  made  its 
appearance  a  little  before  Cicero’s  time  and  was  not  liked  by  our 
ancestors,  as  is  evident  from  the  fact  that,  when  Crassus  and 
Domitius  were  censors,  they  were  ordered,  as  Cicero  says,  to  “  close 
the  school  of  impudence.”  However,  as  I  was  just  saying,  the 
boys  are  taken  to  schools  in  which  it  is  hard  to  tell  whether  the 
place  itself,  or  their  fellow  scholars,  or  the  character  of  their  studies, 


392 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


do  their  minds  most  harm.  As  for  the  place,  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  reverence,  for  no  one  enters  it  who  is  not  as  ignorant  as  the 
rest.  As  for  the  scholars,  there  can  be  no  improvement  when  boys 
and  striplings,  with  equal  assurance,  address,  and  are  addressed  by, 
other  boys  and  striplings. 

‘  As  for  the  mental  exercises  themselves,  they  are  the  reverse  of 
beneficial.  Two  kinds  of  subject  matter  are  dealt  with  before  the 
rhetoricians  —  the  persuasive  and  the  controversial.  The  per¬ 
suasive,  as  being  comparatively  easy  and  requiring  less  skill,  is 
given  to  boys.  The  controversial  is  assigned  to  riper  scholars  and, 
good  heavens  !  what  strange  and  astonishing  productions  are  the 
result !  It  comes  to  pass  that  subjects  remote  from  all  reality  are 
actually  used  for  declamation.’ 

Brodrick’s  Translation. 

Petronius  Arbiter,  about  the  same  time,  laments  the  decline 
of  the  higher  education,  and  satirises  the  sophists.  Con¬ 
firmatory  passages  might  be  added  from  Juvenal,  who  died 
about  120  a.d.,  but  whose  satires  were  probably  written  in 
the  concluding  decade  of  the  first  century.  Then,  about  50 
years  after  Juvenal's  death,  we  can  learn  from  Lucian  what 
the  tendency  of  the  ‘  higher  ’  instruction  was  —  all  towards 
the  premature  fitting  out  of  youth  for  success  in  life,  by 
means  of  rhetoric  and  oratory,  and  a  superficial  acquaintance 
with  the  stock  commonplaces  of  argumentation.  There  was 
no  careful  curriculum  of  severe  study  in  language,  history, 
dialectic,  and  literature,  as  was  required  by  Quintilian,  and 
contemplated,  in  part  at  least,  by  many  leading  sophist-phil¬ 
osophers,  who,  long  before  imperial  times,  had  followed 
Isocrates.  Now,  nothing  is  more  certain  than  this  in  educa¬ 
tion,  that  the  moment  the  vesture  of  thought  becomes  an 
object  of  worship — whether  in  the  shape  of  word-cunning, 
elegance  of  style,  or  rules  for  rhetorical  construction  and 
rhythmical  effect  —  the  result  must  be  decline  and  decay. 
With  such  an  educational  end  in  view,  it  was  not  surprising 
that  young  men  in  the  second  century  a.d.  should  become  im¬ 
patient  of  the  slow  processes  of  disciplinary  preparation. 
They  rushed  the  preparatory  grammar,  literature,  and  dialectic 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  393 

in  order  to  get  at  the  sophistics,  the  declamation  and  super¬ 
ficial  politics  of  the  rhetorical  or  ‘  university  ’  schools.  - 

The  remarkable  devotion  to  Roman  literature  and  rhetoric 
in  the  provinces  doubtless  helped  the  decline,  while  it  was  a 
gratifying  illustration  of  the  rapid  diffusion  of  the  Roman 
language  and  literature  among  the  native  Gauls  and  Span¬ 
iards.1  They  helped  the  decline  because  the  native  provin¬ 
cials  were  essentially  imitators,  though,  doubtless,  frequently 
able,  and  almost  always  (at  least  in  Gaul)  eloquent. 

But  we  are  not  entitled,  even  at  the  bidding  of  Tacitus,  to 
speak  of  the  decline  of  education  as  already  accomplished  in 
the  first  two,  or  even  three,  centuries  of  the  empire.  On  the 
contrary,  there  had  been  great  progress.  All  the  countries 
of  the  Mediterranean,  including  Gaul,  as  far  north  as  Treves, 
and  Spain  as  far  south  as  Corduba,  were  swarming  with 
accomplished  men.  Some  of  these  were  Italians  settled  in 
the  provinces,  but  a  large  number  were  native  Gauls  and 
Spaniards  who  lived  for  the  acquisition  of  Roman  literature 
and  eloquence,  and  were  as  keen  in  the  pursuit  of  it  as  the 
fervent  young  men  of  the  post-medheval  renaissance.  The 
decline,  such  as  it  was,  at  the  time  Tacitus  wrote,  was  in  the 
educational  aim ;  it  was  this  that  contained  the  seed  of 
decay.  True,  the  old  Roman  idea  was  now  no  longer  a  living 
force ;  but  we  had  in  its  place  the  Romano-Hellenic  culture 
—  broad,  cosmopolitan,  and  essentially  humane.  I  may  here 
summarise  briefly  the  grounds  for  refusing  to  accept  the 
opinion  that  education  as  a  national  movement  was  retro¬ 
grading  in  imperial  times. 

First;  there  was  the  growth  of  public  libraries.  From 
150  years  B.c.  onwards,  it  became  usual  for  the  wealthy 
Roman  to  collect  books,  almost  wholly  Greek.  This  was 
following  the  example  of  distinguished  Greeks  200  years 
earlier.  iEmilius  Paullus,  moreover,  and  Sulla  conveyed 
libraries  from  Greece  and  Asia  Minor  as  plunder  of  war. 
The  first  Public  Library  in  Rome  was  instituted  by  Asinius 
Pollio  in  the  time  of  Augustus,  in  the  atrium  of  the  Temple 

1  Especially  after  Tiberius  shut  up  the  Druidical  colleges. 


394 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


of  Liberty  on  Mt.  Aventine.  Julius  Caesar  had,  before  this, 
contemplated  a  great  Greek  and  Latin  Library,  but  his  death 
cut  short  his  scheme.  Augustus  himself  instituted  a  library 
in  the  temple  of  Apollo  on  Mt.  Palatine,  and  a  second,  the 
Octavian,  in  the  Portions  Octavia.  There  were  other  public 
libraries  in  Rome,  but  the  greatest  was  the  Ulpian  founded  by 
Trajan.  All  this  activity  was  the  fruit  of  Hellenic  example. 
There  had  been  public  libraries  in  several  Greek  towns,  and 
in  Alexandria,  the  greatest  of  them  all  was  founded  by 
Ptolemy  Soter  in  323  B.c. ;  before  the  time  of  Julius  Crnsar, 
when  the  greatest  part  of  it  was  burnt  down,  it  possessed 
certainly  not  less  than  500,000  volumes.  It  was  soon  re¬ 
stored,  but  only  to  be  totally  destroyed  during  the  confusion 
of  the  Arab  occupation  in  640  a.d.  At  Pergamon  also  a 
great  library  rivalling  that  of  Alexandria  had  been  founded 
by  Eumenes  the  king. 

In  later  imperial  times  there  were  twenty-eight  public 
libraries  hi  Rome.  Books  (yolumina  or  rolls)  were  cheap, 
and  booksellers’  shops  numerous.  We  are  assured  that  in 
provincial  towns  this  activity  was  imitated,  and  that  with  the 
large  extension  of  schools  under  the  emperors,  and  the 
greater  accessibility  of  books,  the  facilities  for  education  had 
been  enormously  increased. 

Secondly ;  not  only  in  Rome,  but  throughout  Italy  and  in 
all  the  cities  of  the  Empire,  grammatical  schools  had  arisen. 
These  were  fostered  by  the  municipalities,  encouraged  by  the 
emperors,  and  a  considerable  number  of  them  were  endowed 
with  public  money.  The  wide  diffusion  of  grammar  (or 
secondary)  schools  in  all  the  countries  round  the  Mediterra¬ 
nean  may  be  inferred  from  the  large  number  of  higher  or 
rhetoric  schools  which  grew  up  in  addition  to  the  great 
schools  of  Rhodes,  Athens,  and  Pergamos.  We  learn  from 
Suetonius  and  other  sources  that  Vespasian,  70-79  a.d.,  gave 
salaries  from  the  public  treasury  to  both  Latin  and  Greek 
rhetoricians  at  Rome.  Quintilian  was  one  of  these.  This 
rhetorical  school  was  further  developed  by  Hadrian  (117- 
138  a.d.).  The  number  of  professors  was  largely  increased, 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  395 


a  noble  building  was  erected,  with  lecture-halls  where  orators 
and  poets  held  forth,  and  where  Greek  and  Latin  gram¬ 
marians  and  rhetoricians  had  numerous  students.  This 
institution,  called  the  Athenaeum,  was  the  university  of 
Rome  for  centuries.  Antoninus  Pius,  continued  this  good 
work  in  the  provinces,  giving  both  honour  and  income  to 
the  higher  teachers.  He  was  the  first  (it  is  believed)  to 
make  them  a  privileged  class  by  relieving  them  of  rates  and 
taxes,  the  obligation  to  hold  municipal  offices,  to  serve  in  the 
army,  and  to  have  soldiers  quartered  on  them.  These  immu¬ 
nities  were  extended  to  philosophers,  rhetoricians,  gram¬ 
marians,  and  physicians.  To  prevent  abuse  of  these  privi¬ 
leges  he  restricted  the  number  of  each  class  who  were  to 
enjoy  them  :  the  smaller  towns  being  allowed  five  physicians, 
three  sophists,1  and  three  grammarians ;  in  large  towns  (i.e. 
towns  in  which  a  court  of  justice  was  established)  seven 
physicians,  four  sophists,  and  four  grammarians  were  recog¬ 
nised  ;  and  in  the  capital  towns  of  a  province,  ten  physicians, 
five  sophists,  and  five  grammarians.  Under  Constantine  the 
Great  (306-337)  these  privileges  were  confirmed  and  ex¬ 
tended,  and  under  Theodosius  II.  (408)  the  more  distin¬ 
guished  teachers  at  Constantinople  were  raised  to  the  rank 
of  counts  of  the  first  class.  Great  schools  arose  at  Mar¬ 
seilles,  Trier,  Autun,  Bourdeaux,  and  elsewhere. 

Meanwhile,  at  Athens,  which  still  continued  to  be  the 
home  of  philosophy,  the  four  philosophical  schools  had  kept 
up  a  kind  of  apostolic  succession.  Marcus  Aurelius  had,  in 
176  a.d.,  fixed  a  liberal  state  salary  to  be  paid  to  two  teachers 
in  each  of  these  schools,  besides  two  teachers  of  oratory. 
The  council  of  the  city  appointed  to  these  offices,  subject  to 
the  approval  of  the  emperor. 

Alexander  Severus  (218)  appointed  teachers  of  archi¬ 
tecture,  mathematics,  and  mechanics,  as  well  as  medicine, 
rhetoric,  and  grammar,  and  even  began  a  system  of  ‘  bursa¬ 
ries’  at  Rome.  And  in  376,  Gratian  ordered  that  in  all  the 
capitals  of  the  seventeen  Gallic  provinces  the  grammarians 

1  This  term  had  become  applicable  to  both  rhetoricians  and  philosophers. 


396 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


and  rhetoricians  in  both  Latin  and  Greek  should  receive  from 
the  imperial  chest  a  sum  equal  to  their  municipal  salary. 

The  higher  school  or  university  of  Constantinople,  which 
emulated  Pomp,  had  its  professors  increased  by  Theodosius 
II.  to  three  Latin  rhetoricians,  five  Greek  sophists,  ten  Latin 
and  ten  Greek  grammarians,  one  philosopher,  and  two  jurists. 
They  were  accommodated  in  the  Capitolium. 

The  great  school  of  Berytus  was  an  university  of  law. 

Nor  must  we  omit  to  mention  Alexandria.  The  Museum  of 
Alexandria,  founded  by  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  about  280  B.c., 
was  in  full  activity.  Strabo  says  (xvii.  p.  112,  Oxford  ed.) : 
‘  Part  of  the  royal  palaces  is  the  Museum,  which  has  cloisters, 
an  exedra  (these  were  semi-circular  alcoves  at  the  end  of  por¬ 
ticoes  and  fitted  with  seats  where  the  learned  taught  their 
students),  and  a  very  large  house  in  which  there  is  a  “  common- 
room  ”  for  those  who  are  fellows  of  the  Museum  and  devote 
themselves  to  letters  :  there  are  public  endowments  for  the  Col¬ 
lege  (Synod)  and  it  is  presided  over  by  a  priest  formerly  ap¬ 
pointed  by  the  kings,  now  by  Cfesar.’  The  great  libraries  were 
accessible  to  these  men  and  their  students.  There  was  an  ob¬ 
servatory  and,  it  is  said  also,  botanical  and  zoological  gardens. 
The  chief  work  of  this  college  of  learned  men  was  in  the 
departments  of  mathematics,  astronomy,  philosophy,  and 
medicine.  It  is  said  they  chose  their  own  principals :  if  so 
they  must  have  corresponded  to  our  Deans  of  Paculties,  as 
the  president  was  a  state  nominee.  The  Emperor  Claudius 
(died  54  a.d.)  added  a  second  Museum,  in  which  his  own 
historical  works  were  to  be  regularly  read.  Caracalla  (died 
217  a.d.)  confiscated  the  salaries,  and  the  institution  came  to 
an  end  —  that  is  to  say,  in  so  far  as  it  was  an  endowed  sys¬ 
tem  of  fellowships  —  in  the  third  century. 

During  all  these  centuries,  moreover,  numerous  gramma¬ 
rians  and  sophists  wandered  from  town  to  town  and  opened 
private  schools. 

Nor  do  the  above  facts  stand  alone  in  the  educational 
history  of  the  time.  They  indicate  the  public  policy  of  the 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  397 


Empire,  but  they  do  not  reveal  that  that  policy  was  sup¬ 
ported  by  a  wide-spread  ‘  humanity  ’  destined  soon  to  super¬ 
sede  the  humanitas  of  mere  culture.  We  find  this  well 
exemplified  in  a  letter  (iv.  13),  from  Pliny  the  younger  (died 
about  110  a.d.)  addressed  to  Tacitus: 

I  am  glad  [he  says]  to  hear  of  your  safe  arrival  at  Rome.  I  am 
always  anxious  to  see  you,  and  especially  just  now.  I  shall  stay  a 
few  more  days  at  Tusculum,  that  I  may  finish  a  little  work  that  I 
have  in  hand,  for  I  am  afraid  that  if  I  break  it  off  when  I  have  all 
but  completed  it,  I  shall  find  it  difficult  to  take  it  up  again.  Mean¬ 
while,  that  I  may  lose  no  time,  I  send  off  this  letter,  so  to  speak,  in 
advance  of  me,  to  ask  a  favour  of  you  which  I  shall  soon  ask  in  • 
person.  First,  let  me  tell  you  the  occasion  of  it.  Being  lately  at 
my  native  town  [Comum,  about  twenty-eight  miles  north  of  Milan] 
a  young  lad,  son  of  one  of  my  neighbours,  came  to  pay  me  a  com¬ 
plimentary  call.  ‘  Do  you  go  to  school  ?  ’  I  asked  him.  ‘  Yes,’  he 
replied.  ‘Where?’  ‘  At  Milan  ’  [Mediolanum].  ‘  Why  not  here  ?  ’ 
‘Because,’  said  his  father,  who  had  come  with  him,  ‘we  have  no 
teachers  here.’  ‘  No  teachers  !  Why  surely,’  I  replied,  ‘  it  would 
be  very  much  to  the  interest  of  all  you  fathers  ’  (and  fortunately 
several  fathers  heard  what  I  said)  ‘  to  have  your  sons  educated  here 
rather  than  anywhere  else.  Where  can  they  live  more  pleasantly 
than  in  their  own  town  ?  or  be  bred  up  more  virtuously  than  under 
their  parents’  eyes,  or  at  less  expense  than  at  home  ?  What  an 
easy  matter  it  would  be,  by  a  general  contribution,  to  hire  teachers, 
and  to  apply  to  their  salaries  the  money  which  you  now  spend  on 
lodging,  journeys,  and  all  you  have  to  purchase  for  your  sons  at  a 
distance  from  home.  I  have  no  children  myself ;  I  look  on  my 
native  town  in  the  light  of  a  child  or  a  parent,  and  I  am  ready  to 
advance  a  third  part  of  any  sum  which  you  think  fit  to  raise  for  the 
purpose.  I  would  even  promise  the  whole  amount  were  1  not 
afraid  that  my  benefaction  might  be  spoilt  by  jobbery,  as  I  see 
happens  in  many  towns  where  teachers  are  engaged  at  the  public 
expense.  There  is  only  one  way  of  meeting  this  evil.  If  the 
choice  of  teachers  is  left  solely  to  the  parents,  the  obligation  to 
choose  rightly  will  be  enforced  by  the  necessity  of  having  to  pay 
towards  the  teachers’  salaries.  Those  who  would,  perhaps,  be 
careless  in  administering  another’s  bounty,  will  certainly  be  careful 


398 


PRE-  CHRISTIAN  ED  UCA  TI ON 


about  tbeir  own  expenses,  and  will  see  that  none  but  those  who 
deserve  it  receive  any  of  my  money,  when  they  must  at  the  same 
time  receive  theirs  as  well.  So  take  counsel  together  and  be  en¬ 
couraged  by  my  example,  and  be  assured  that  the  greater  my  pro¬ 
portion  of  the  expense  shall  be,  the  better  shall  I  be  pleased. 
You  can  do  nothing  more  for  the  good  of  your  children,  or  more 
acceptable  to  your  native  town.  Your  sons  will  thus  receive  their 
education  in  the  place  of  their  birth,  and  be  accustomed  from  their 
infancy  to  love  and  cling  to  their  native  soil.  I  trust  that  you 
may  secure  such  eminent  teachers  that  the  neighbouring  towns 
will  be  glad  to  draw  their  learning  from  hence ;  so  that,  as  you 
now  send  your  children  elsewhere  to  be  educated,  other  people’s 
children  may  hereafter  flock  hither  for  instruction.’ 

I  thought  it  advisable  to  explain  the  whole  affair  to  you  circum¬ 
stantially,  so  that  you  may  see  more  clearly  how  much  obliged  I 
should  be  if  you  will  undertake  what  I  request.  I  entreat  you,  in 
consideration  of  the  importance  of  the  matter,  to  look  out  among 
the  multitude  of  men  of  letters  whom  the  reputation  of  your  genius 
draws  around  you  some  teachers  to  whom  we  may  apply,  but  with¬ 
out  as  yet  tying  ourselves  down  to  any  particular  man.  I  leave 
everything  to  the  parents,  I  wish  them  to  judge  and  select  as  they 
think  fit ;  I  take  on  myself  nothing  but  the  trouble  and  expense. 
If  anyone  shall  be  found  who  has  confidence  in  his  own  ability,  let 
him  go  there  ;  but  he  must  understand  that  he  goes  with  no  assur¬ 
ance  but  that  derived  from  his  own  merit.  (‘  Ancient  Classics  for 
English  Readers  —  Pliny.’) 

From  this  letter  we  see  that  two  kinds  of  schools  were  in 
existence  in  Pliny’s  day:  (1)  schools,  supported  by  the 
municipalities,  not  uncommon  ( multis  in  locis ),  and  (2) 
subscription-schools,  where  sufficient  funds  could  be  raised 
to  engage  a  teacher.  When  there  was  a  good  school  in  any 
place,  boys  came  from  a  distance  and  seem  to  have  taken 
lodgings  in  the  place  in  order  to  attend  it.  We  also  see  the 
importance  which  Pliny  attaches  to  education,  the  high 
value  he  sets  on  home  training  and  his  opinion  as  to  free 
education.  He  sees  the  danger  of  bad  appointments  likely 
to  arise  from  fixed  payments  and  centralisation,  and  he  also 
sees  the  necessity  of  some  subsidy  to  encourage  local  effort. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  399 


Pliny’s  letter  is  itself  evidence  of  the  spirit  of  humanity  to 
which  I  have  already  adverted,  and  which,  under  the  influence 
of  the  Stoic  philosophy,  had  already  lead  to  charitable  founda¬ 
tions.  Large  benefactions  were  made  not  only  by  the  state 
but  by  private  individuals,  for  the  maintenance  of  orphan¬ 
ages  ;  and  successive  emperors  added  to  these  in  many 
Italian  towns. 

Nor,  as  further  evidence  of  educational  activity,  were 
writers  on  education  wanting.  There  were  many  whose 
names  and  books  are  lost,  but  some  of  the  most  eminent  are 
still  household  words  in  the  history  of  education.  Omitting 
the  earlier  writers,  we  have  Seneca,  Quintilian,  Tacitus,  Pliny 
the  younger,  Plutarch,  and  Musonius  the  Stoic,  who  all  wrote 
on  the  subject  of  education,  and  the  opinions  of  any  one  of 
whom,  in  so  far  as  they  can  he  now  ascertained,  might,  in 
their  educational  reference,  he  the  subject  of  an  interesting 
and  instructive  monograph. 

As  regards  individual  life ;  it  is  unhappily  true  that  most 
of  the  educated  intelligence  of  the  empire  sought,  under  very 
lax  moral  conditions,  the  satisfactions  of  material  wealth  or 
the  glory  of  place  and  power.  The  vetus  disciplina,  the  prisca 
virtus ,  was  gone  from  the  life  even  of  the  senate,  now  an 
upstart  body  of  novi  homines.  The  religion  of  Rome  was 
dead,  for,  as  Professor  Flint  truly  says,  ‘  Rome  had  made  the 
world  Roman  and  become  herself  cosmopolitan.’ 1  And  yet 
we  can  still  find  a  succession  of  men  of  the  old  Roman  type 
among  whom  the  traditionary  dignity  of  family  intercourse 
and  severity  of  morals  survived.  The  Stoic  philosophy,  as  a 
noble  scheme  of  life,  had  established  itself  in  many  minds  as 
a  motive  force,  and  filled  the  place  no  longer  occupied  by  the 
memories  of  a  great  history  and  an  ancestral  religion.  When 
wTe  note  the  humanity  and  even  tenderness  conveyed  in  the 
letter  from  Pliny  quoted  above,  and  realise  also  the  universal 
human  relations  of  the  Stoic  system,  we  can  see  that  for  the 
cultured  men  of  the  empire  a  noble  and  beneficent  existence 
was  always  possible. 

1  History  of  Philosophy  of  History,  p.  56. 


400 


PRE-  CHRIST  I A  N  ED  UCA  TION 


In  view  of  all  these  facts,  I  repeat  that  it  seems  to  me  absurd 
to  talk  of  the  decline  of  education  in  the  first  two  centuries 
of  the  Christian  era.  It  never  had  been  so  widely  extended, 
and  never  before  had  it  received  so  much  fostering  care. 
Nor  have  I  found  any  evidence  that  the  grammar  schools 
were,  in  their  working,  seriously  defective.  The  quality  of 
the  discipline  and  instruction  of  the  higher  schools,  it  is  true, 
had  degenerated  in  some  quarters  because  of  the  large  acces¬ 
sion  to  the  number  of  learners  and  of  competing  teachers. 
But  an  excellent  education  could  still  be  obtained  at  all  the 
great  centres  of  the  empire. 

The  ethical  element  in  education  was,  moreover,  making 
progress,  while  the  intellectual  elements  of  culture  were  being 
extended.  The  Alexandrian  philosophy  of  the  time  had  a 
religious  and  mystical  tendency,  and  elsewhere  the  supremacy 
of  ethics  in  philosophy  and  the  prevalence  of  purer  and  more 
exalted  notions  of  God  have  to  be  noted.  These  were  educa¬ 
tive  forces  of  the  highest  kind.  Cicero  says  much  on  this 
subject  that  might  be  here  quoted.  Quintilian,  again, 
advocating  the  study  of  ethics  by  the  orator,  says  :  ‘  If  the 
world  is  governed  by  a  Providence,  the  state  ought  surely  to 
be  ruled  by  the  superintendence  of  good  men.  If  our  souls 
are  of  divine  origin,  we  ought  to  devote  ourselves  to  virtue, 
and  not  be  slaves  to  a  body  of  terrestrial  nature  ’  (xii.  2). 
Apollonius  of  Tyana  was  an  itinerant  preacher  of  ethics  —  a 
kind  of  apostle.  ‘  The  whole  universe  which  you  see 
around  you,’  says  Seneca,  ‘  comprising  all  things  divine  and 
human,  is  one.  We  are  members  of  one  great  body.  Nature 
has  made  us  relative,  when  it  begat  us  from  the  same 
materials  and  for  the  same  destinies.’  1 

Depraved  superstitions,  moral  excesses,  and  brutal  pleas¬ 
ures,  meanwhile  characterised  a  large  proportion  of  the 
people,  who  had  not  yet  found  a  substitute  for  their  lost  gods, 
while  training  to  civic  virtue  had  become  impossible  for  them 
under  the  inevitable  imperial  despotism. 

But  I  need  not  dwell  on  what  is  a  commonplace  of  moral 

1  Seneca,  Ep.  xcv.,  quoted  by  Mr.  Lecky. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  401 


history ;  it  will  be  more  to  the  purpose  to  give  a  summary 
of  two  writers  who  exhibit  the  ethical  and  humane  spirit 
which  was  then  beginning  to  permeate  society,  viz.  Plutarch 
and  Musonius. 


Plutarch  1 

Plutarch,  a  Greek,  wrote  his  essay  on  the  education  of  chil¬ 
dren  about  100  a.d.  The  following  is  a  summary  of  his 
wisdom. 

The  most  pregnant  and  epigrammatic  of  his  utterances  is  this, 
1  Nature  without  education  is  blind/  In  beginning  his  essay,  he 
says,  ‘  Come,  let  us  consider  what  is  to  be  said  regarding  the  edu¬ 
cation  of  free  children,  and  by  what  means  they  may  be  made 
virtuous.’  But  he  confines  himself  within  much  narrower  limits 
than  a  purpose  so  large  would  have  led  us  to  expect.  He  more 
than  once,  as  might  be  expected  in  a  Greek,  dwells  on  the  impor¬ 
tance  of  gymnastics  for  the  young  and  of  recreation  for  adults 
who  are  disposed  to  work  hard.  Even  a  bow  we  have  to  unbend 
if  it  is  to  do  its  work  properly. 

For  good  agriculture,  he  says,  there  must  be  good  soil,  a  skilful 
husbandman,  and  fruitful  seed ;  so  in  education,  nature  is  the  soil, 
the  master  the  husbandman,  and  precepts  and  instruction  the  seed. 
Deficiency  in  the  nature  of  the  child  may  be  supplied  by  labour 
and  culture.  There  is  a  concurrence  of  three  things  requisite  to 
virtue  —  nature,  reason,  and  use.  By  reason  he  means  instruction, 
by  use  he  means  exercise. 

Like  all  other  writers  on  education  Plutarch  dwells  much  on  the 
importance  of  exercise  with  a  view  to  habit.  Without  instruction 
nature  is  blind,  but  even  where  there  is  instruction,  of  what  value 
will  it  be  without  constant  practice  in  the  good  ?  He  presses  the 
cultivation  of  the  memory  in  the  sphere  of  intellectual  instruction, 
but  beyond  this  he  has  little  to  say  on  the  training  of  the  intellect. 

It  is  on  the  moral  education  of  the  boy  and  youth  that  he  most 
strongly  insists.  Let  them  be  taught,  above  all,  to  keep  their  tem¬ 
pers  and  to  control  their  tongues.  A  man  never  regrets  having 
said  too  little.  That  they  should  be  trained  to  speak  the  truth  is 

1  Doubtful  whether  the  essay  on  education  was  Plutarch’s. 

26 


402 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


essential.  Lying  is  for  slaves.  He  points  out  that  the  elements  of 
virtue  are  love  of  honour  and  fear  of  punishment  (n^topia),  and 
that  the  faults  of  boys  are,  in  truth,  trifling  in  themselves,  and 
easily  corrected ;  but  in  youths  these  faults  may  grow  to  vices. 
‘  Childhood  is  a  tender  thing,  and  may  easily  be. wrought  into  any 
shape.’ 

The  main  instrument  of  all  education  is  philosophy.  By  phil¬ 
osophy  he  means  all  that  bears  on  the  conduct  of  life.  The  sole 
guide  of  the  mind  of  man  is  philosophy.  By  this  we  are  taught 
what  is  good  and  bad,  honourable  and  dishonourable,  just  and 
unjust,  what  we  are  most  to  desire  and  what  most  to  shun,  and  the 
duties  we  owe  to  the  gods,  to  our  parents,  friends,  strangers,  soci¬ 
ety  ;  also  the  regulation  of  all  the  passions,  &c.  In  this  he  repeats 
Isocrates. 

With  a  view  to  sound  instruction,  the  writers  of  antiquity  are  to 
be  read,  confining  boys  to  the  good  and  useful  in  these. 

Parents  are  enjoined  to  care  for  their  children’s  education,  and 
to  be  careful  in  their  choice  of  nurses,  psedagogi,  and  masters,  not 
grudging  expenditure  on  so  important  a  matter  as  education.  They 
are  also  urged  themselves  to  take  an  interest  in  what  their  children 
are  learning. 

On  the  subject  of  coercion  he  says,  ‘  Children  are  to  be  won  to 
follow  liberal  studies  by  exhortations  and  rational  motives,  and  on 
no  account  to  be  forced  thereto  by  whipping  or  any  other  contume¬ 
lious  punishments.  I  will  not  urge  that  such  usage  seems  to  me 
more  agreeable  to  slaves  than  to  ingenuous  (freeborn)  citizens ! 
And  even  slaves  when  thus  handled  are  dulled  and  discouraged 
from  the  performance  of  their  tasks,  partly  by  reason  of  the  smart 
of  their  stripes,  partly  because  of  the  disgrace  thereby  inflicted. 
But  praise  and  reproof  are  more  effectual  on  free-born  children 
than  any  such  disgraceful  handling,  the  former  to  incite  them  to 
what  is  good,  the  latter  to  restrain  them  from  that  which  is  evil.  .  .  . 
It  is  useful  not  to  give  them  such  large  commendations  as  to  puff 
them  up  with  pride.’ 

As  to  amount  of  work  to  be  demanded  of  the  young,  Plutarch 
says  that  some  parents,  being  over  hasty  to  advance  their  children 
in  learning  beyond  their  equals,  overwork  them,  and  so  cause  them 
to  be  ill-affected  to  study.  For,  ‘as  plants  by  moderate  watering 
are  nourished,  but  with  overmuch  moisture  are  glutted,  so  is  the 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  403 


spirit  improved  by  moderate  labours,  but  overwhelmed  by  such  as 
are  excessive.’ 

Memory  should  be  cultivated.  It  is  the  mother  of  the  Muses. 
‘Nothing  doth  so  much  beget  and  nourish  learning  as  memory.’ 

Filthy  talk  is  to  be  checked,  because,  as  Democritus  says,  words 
are  the  shadows  of  actions.  Children  must  be  brought  up  to  be 
alfable  and  courteous. 

Nothing  can  be  more  ‘modern’  than  all  this. 

Musonins  the  Stoic,  again,  is  especially  interesting,  as  he 
discusses  the  question  of  the  education  of  women.1 

‘  In  turning  over  the  pages  of  the  Greek  Anthology  of  Stobseus,’2 
says  the  late  Dr.  Muir,  ‘  I  found  (in  the  Appendix  containing  ex¬ 
tracts  from  the  collection  of  John  of  Damascus,  in  vol.  iv.  pp.  212 
ff.  and  220  If.)  two  passages  quoted  from  Musonius,  the  one  headed 
“  On  the  question  whether  men’s  daughters  should  be  educated 
similar  to  their  sons,”  and  the  other  affirming  that  “  Women  ought 
to  study  philosophy.”  The  author,  C.  Musonius  Rufus,  was  “a 
celebrated  Stoic  philosopher,”  who  lived  “  in  the  first  century  of  the 
Christian  era  ”  ’  (Smith’s  ‘  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Biog¬ 
raphy  and  Mythology,’  s.  v.). 

The  following  is  a  translation  of  the  first  of  the  two  passages  :  — 
‘  The  conversation  having  turned  on  the  question  whether  people’s 
sons  and  daughters  should  receive  the  same  education,  the  philoso¬ 
pher  (after  referring  to  the  analogy  furnished  by  the  identical 
training  received  by  both  the  males  and  the  females  of  two  of  the 
species  of  animals  employed  by  men  to  render  them  active  service, 
horses  and  dogs)  asks  whether  men  ought  to  receive  any  special 
education  and  training  superior  to  those  allowed  to  women,  as  if 
both  alike  should  not  acquire  the  same  virtues,  or  if  it  is  possible  for 
the  two  sexes  to  attain  to  the  same  virtues  otherwise  than  by  the 
same  education.  But  it  is  easy  to  learn  that  a  man  has  not  differ¬ 
ent  virtues  from  a  woman.  For,  first,  the  one  should  have  good 

1  The  late  Dr.  J.  Muir,  founder  of  the  Sanskrit  Chair  in  the  university  of 
Edinburgh,  and  a  well-known  scholar,  printed,  or  translated,  a  portion  of 
Musonius  about  twenty  years  ago  and  sent  me  a  cop}r,  from  which  I  now  give 
extracts. 

2  Joannis  Stobcei  Florilegium,  edited  by  Meineke  (Teubner’s  12mo  edition, 
1857). 


404 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


sense,  as  well  as  the  other ;  for  of  what  use  would  either  a  foolish 
man  or  a  foolish  woman  he  ?  Then  the  man  could  not  be  a  good 
citizen  if  he  were  unjust.  And  the  woman  could  not  carry  on  the 
concerns  of  the  household  virtuously  if  not  being  just,  but  the 
contrary,  she  should  first  wrong  her  husband,  as  they  say  Eriphyle 
did.1 2  It  is  also  good  that  the  woman  as  well  as  the  man  should  be 
self-controlled  2  (o-ux^povetv) .  .  .  .  Perhaps  some  one  would  say 
that  courage  [literally,  manliness,  avSpUa]  is  a  quality  befitting  men 
alone;  but  even  this  is  not  so,  for  the  best  woman  also  should  be 
courageous,  and  be  free  from  weakness,  so  that  she  may  not  be 
overcome  either  by  toil  or  by  fear.  Otherwise  how  can  she  continue 
virtuous,  if  anyone  either  by  terror  or  by  imposing  toil  can  force 
her  to  submit  to  anything  disgraceful?  Women  ought  also  to 
repel  assaults,  for  if  not  they  will  show  themselves  weaker  than 
hens,  and  the  females  of  other  birds,  which  fight  for  their  young 
against  animals  much  bigger  than  themselves.  How,  then,  should 
woman  not  stand  in  need  of  courage  ?  And  that  they  share  a  cer¬ 
tain  martial  vigour  was  proved  by  the  race  of  the  Amazons,  who 
subdued  many  nations  by  force  of  arms.  So  that  if  other  women 
are  deficient  in  courage,  this  must  be  laid  to  the  account  of  3  want 
of  training  rather  than  to  [weakness  of]  nature.  If,  then,  the  same 
virtues  must  pertain  to  men  and  women,  it  follows  necessarily  that 
the  same  training  and  education  must  be  suitable  for  both.  For 
in  the  case  of  all  animals  and  plants,  the  application  of  the  proper 
treatment  ought  to  impart  to  each  the  excellence  belonging  to  it. 
Or,  if  both  men  and  women  should  have  to  possess  equal  skill  in 
playing  the  flute,  or  in  performing  on  the  harp,  and  if  this  were  nec¬ 
essary  for  their  livelihood,  we  should  impart  to  both  equally  the  re¬ 
quisite  instruction.  But  if  both  ought  to  excel  in  the  virtue  proper 
to  mankind,  and  to  be  in  an  equal  measure  wise  and  temperate,  and 

1  Eriphyle  was  the  wife  of  Amphiaraus  who  was  bribed  by  Polynices  with 
the  necklace  of  Harmonia  to  betray  her  husband’s  lurking  place,  so  that  he 
was  forced  to  join  the  expedition  against  Thebes,  where  he  fell. 

2  See  Dr.  Jowett’s  introduction  to  his  translation  of  Plato’s  Charmidas, 
p.  3,  where  he  calls  ‘temperance,  or  awcppoavu-r],  a  peculiarly  Greek  notion, 
which  may  also  be  rendered  moderation,  modesty,  discretion,  wisdom,  with¬ 
out  completely  exhausting  by  all  these  terms  the  various  associations  of  the 
word.  ’ 

3  There  being  a  gap  in  the  text  here,  I  have  followed  the  editor  Meineke’s 
conjecture  as  the  mode  of  filling  it. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  405 


to  partake  in  courage  and  righteousness  the  one  no  less  than  the 
other,  shall  we  not  educate  them  both  in  the  same  manner,  and 
teach  both  equally  the  art  by  which  a  human  being  may  become 
good?  Yes,  we  must  act  thus  and  no  otherwise.  What  then? 
Some  one  will  perhaps  say,  Would  you  think  it  right  to  teach  men 
to  spin  wool  just  as  you  do  women?  and  women  equally  with  men 
to  addict  themselves  to  gymnastic  exercises?  No,  this  I  will  never 
approve.  But  I  say  that  as  in  the  human  race  men  have  a  stronger 
and  women  a  weaker  nature,  each  of  these  natures  should  have 
the  tasks  which  are  most  suited  to  it,  assigned  to  it,  and  that  the 
heavier  should  be  allotted  to  the  stronger,  and  the  lighter  to  the 
weaker.  Spinning,  as  well  as  housekeeping,  would  therefore  be 
more  suitable  for  women  than  for  men,  while  gymnastics,  as  well  as 
out  of  door  work,  would  be  fitter  for  men  than  for  women  :  though 
sometimes  some  men  might  properly  undertake  some  of  the  lighter 
tasks  and  such  as  seem  to  belong  to  women ;  and  women  again 
might  engage  in  the  harder  tasks,  and  those  which  appear  more 
appropriate  for  men,  in  cases  where  either  bodily  qualities,  or 
necessity,  or  particular  occasions,  might  lead  to  such  action.  For 
perhaps  all  human  tasks  are  open  to  all,  and  common  both  to  men 
and  women,  and  nothing  is  necessarily  appointed  exclusively  for 
either ;  not  that 1  some  things  may  not  be  more  suitable  for  the 
one,  and  others  for  the  other  nature  ;  so  that  some  are  called  men’s 
and  others  women’s  occupations.  But  whatever  things  have  refer¬ 
ence  to  virtue,  these  one  may  rightly  affirm  to  be  equally  appro¬ 
priate  for  both  natures,  since  we  say  that  virtues  do  not  belong 
more  to  the  one  than  to  the  other.  Wherefore  I  think  it  is  reason¬ 
able  that  both  males  and  females  should  be  similarly  instructed  in 
matters  relating  to  virtue ;  and  they  should  be  taught  from  their 
infancy  that  such  and  such  a  thing  is  good,  and  such  and  such  a 
thing  is  bad  (the  same  thing  bad  for  both)  and  that  one  thing  is 
profitable  and  another  injurious,  and  that  this  is  to  be  done  and 
that  not ;  from  which  wisdom  is  acquired  by  those  who  learn,  by 
boys  and  girls  equally,  and  in  no  way  differently  by  each ;  then 
they  are  to  be  inspired  with  a  feeling  of  shame  in  regard  to  every¬ 
thing  base.  These  qualities  being  implanted  in  them,  it  neces¬ 
sarily  follows  that  both  men  and  women  will  become  virtuous. 
And  those  who  are  rightly  instructed,  whether  males  or  females, 


1  The  words  of  the  original  [/mi]  8)  8£)  must  apparently  bear  this  sense. 


406 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


are  to  be  accustomed  to  endure  toil,  not  to  fear  death,  not  to  be 
crushed  by  any  calamity,  so  that  they  may  become  courageous  [or 
manly] ;  for  it  has  been  shown  above  that  women  too  should  par¬ 
take  in  the  character  of  courage  [or  manliness,  avSpia].  Then  again, 
it  is  an  excellent  thing  to  teach  them  to  avoid  selfishness  1  and  to 
honour  equality,  and,  as  human  beings,  to  seek  to  benefit  and  not 
to  injure  mankind;  and  such  instruction  renders  those  who  receive 
it  just.  But  why  should  a  man  learn  these  things  more  than  a 
woman?  For  if  it  is  fitting  that  women  should  be  just,  then  both 
sexes  should  be  taught  these  things  which  are  most  seasonable  and 
most  important.  For  if  the  man  should  know  some  little  matter 
connected  with  some  artist’s  department,  and  the  woman  not,  or 
conversely,  this  will  not  prove  the  education  of  each  to  be  different. 
Only,  as  regards  any  of  the  most  important  matters  let  not  the  one 
be  taught  differently  from  the  other.  If  anyone  asks  me  what 
science  is  to  preside  over  this  instruction  I  shall  reply  that  as  with¬ 
out  philosophy  no  man  can  be  rightly  instructed,  so  neither  can  any 
woman.  But  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  if  women  are  to  philoso¬ 
phise  they  ought  properly  to  possess  fluency  and  extraordinary 
cleverness  in  discussion  ;  for  I  do  not  praise  this  very  much  even 
in  men ;  but  I  mean  that  women  should  acquire  a  virtuous  char¬ 
acter  and  nobleness,  since  philosophy  is  the  pursuit  of  a  noble 
character,  and  nothing  else/ 

The  following  is  a  translation  of  the  second  passage  mentioned 
above  :  —  ‘  And  when  one  asked  him  if  women  too  should  study 
philosophy,  he  began,  somewhat  in  this  way,  to  teach  that  they 
should.  Women,  he  said,  have  received  from  the  gods  the  same 
reason  as  men,  the  reason  which  we  use  in  dealing  with  each  other, 
and  by  which  we  discern,  in  regard  to  each  act,  whether  it  is  good 
or  bad,  noble  or  base.  So,  too,  the  female  has  the  same  percep¬ 
tions  as  the  male  —  seeing,  hearing,  smelling,  and  so  forth.  .  .  . 
So,  too,  not  only  men,  but  women  also,  have  by  nature  the  desire 
and  the  adaptation  for  virtue ;  for  the  latter,  no  less  than  the 
former,  are  so  formed  as  to  be  pleased  with  noble  and  righteous 
actions  and  to  disapprove  the  contraries  of  these.  This  being  the 
case,  why  should  it  belong  to  men  principally  to  inquire  and  con¬ 
sider  how  they  shall  live  nobly  —  which  is  the  province  of  philos¬ 
ophy  —  and  not  principally  to  women  ?  Is  it  because  it  is  fitting 


1  w'Keov^la. 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  407 


for  men  to  be  good,  and  not  for  women '?  But  let  us  inquire  in 
regard  to  every  particular  quality  suitable  for  a  woman  who  shall 
be  good  ;  for  it  will  appear  that  she  will  derive  each  of  these  char¬ 
acteristics  principally  from  philosophy.  First,  a  woman  ought  to 
be  a  good  housekeeper,  and  capable  of  judging  what  things  are  ex¬ 
pedient  for  the  house,  and  qualified  to  rule  the  domestics.  Now, 
I  say  that  such  qualities  would  belong  most  to  a  woman  who 
studied  philosophy,  since  each  of  these  things  is  a  part  of  life,  and 
the  science  of  matters  regarding  life  is  nothing  else  than  philosophy, 
and  the  philosopher,  as  Socrates  said,  continues  inquiring  “  what 
things,  good  or  bad,  are  done  in  the  house.”  But  the  woman 
should  further  be  self-controlled,  so  as  to  keep  herself  pure  .  .  . 
not  to  be  the  slave  of  desires,  nor  quarrelsome,  nor  extravagant,  nor 
fond  of  dress.  These  are  the  works  of  a  virtuous  woman ;  and,  in 
addition,  she  should  control  anger,  not  give  way  to  grief,  be  supe¬ 
rior  to  all  passion.  These  things  philosophy  enjoins,  and  it  appears 
to  me  that  anyone,  whether  man  or  woman,  who  should  learn  and 
practise  them,  would  be  a  most  correct  person.  What  then] 
These  things  are  so.  Is  not,  therefore,  a  woman  justified  in  study¬ 
ing  philosophy,  in  being  a  blameless  partner  of  [her  husband’s] 
life,  a  good  helpmeet  in  housekeeping,  a  careful  guardian  of  her 
husband  and  children,  and  in  every  way  free  from  the  love  of  gain 
and  from  selfishness  ]  And  what  woman  would  possess  this  char¬ 
acter  more  than  the  student  of  philosophy,  who  would  be  bound, 
if  philosophy  is  uniform  []  in  its  effects]  to  esteem  the  doing 
worse  than  the  suffering  of  injustice  —  insomuch  as  it  is  more  dis¬ 
graceful  —  and  to  regard  being  worsted  as  better  than  gaining  an 
advantage,  and  to  love  her  children  more  than  [her  own]  life  ? 
And  what  woman  would  be  juster  than  she  who  possessed  such  a 
character  ]  And  it  befits  the  educated  woman  to  be  more  coura¬ 
geous  than  the  uneducated,  and  the  student  of  philosophy  than  she 
who  is  untrained  in  it,  so  that  she  would  neither  submit  to  any¬ 
thing  disgraceful  from  the  fear  of  death,  or  through  shrinking  from 
toil,  nor  succumb  to  anyone  because  he  was  well-born,  or  powerful, 
or  rich,  or  even  a  tyrant.  For  it  is  her  fortune  to  have  studied  to 
be  high-minded,1  and  to  regard  death  as  not  an  evil  and  life  as  not 
a  good,  and  similarly  not  to  turn  away  from  toil,  or  at  all  to  in¬ 
dulge  in  indolence.  Whence  it  is  to  be  expected  that  such  a 


1  fiiya  (ppoveiv. 


408 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


woman  would  work  with  her  own  hands,  and  submit  to  toil,  should 
be  able  herself  to  suckle  the  infants  to  whom  she  gave  birth,  and 
minister  to  her  husband  with  her  own  hands,  and  fulfil  without 
reluctance  tasks  which  some  consider  as  work  only  fit  for  slaves. 
Would  not,  now,  such  a  woman  be  a  great  treasure  for  her  hus¬ 
band,  an  ornament  to  her  relatives,  and  a  good  example  to  those  of 
her  own  sex  who  knew  her  ? 

‘  But  some  will  say  that  the  women  who  visit  philosophers  must 
generally  become  bold  and  presuming  when,  leaving  their  house¬ 
hold  occupations,  they  live  surrounded  by  men,  and  practise  dis¬ 
cussions,  and  argue  subtly,  and  analyse  syllogisms,  while  they  ought 
to  be  sitting  at  home  spinning.  But  I  am  so  far  from  approving 
of  women  who  are  studying  philosophy  leaving  their  proper  avoca¬ 
tions  and  devoting  themselves  solely  to  discussions,  that  I  should 
not  even  think  it  fit  for  men  to  do  this.  But  I  say  that  they  ought 
to  engage  in  all  the  reasonings  with  which  they  occupy  themselves 
for  the  sake  of  their  avocations.  For  as  medical  speculations  are 
useless  unless  they  conduce  to  the  health  of  the  human  body,  so  if 
a  philosopher  holds  or  inculcates  any  doctrine,  it  is  of  no  value 
unless  it  promote  the  virtue  of  the  human  soul.  But,  above  all 
things,  we  ought  to  weigh  the  principles  which  we  think  that 
women  studying  philosophy  should  follow,  so  as  to  form  a  judg¬ 
ment  whether  the  doctrine  which  teaches  that  modesty  is  the 
greatest  good  can  make  women  bold,  or  whether  that  which  incul¬ 
cates  the  greatest  composure  can  accustom  them  to  live  recklessly 
[or  impudently],  or  that  which  shows  vice  to  be  the  greatest  evil 
does  not  teach  virtuous  self-restraint,  or  that  which  represents 
housekeeping  as  a  virtue,  and  exhorts  a  woman  to  be  satisfied  with 
it  and  to  work  with  her  own  hands,  does  not  dispose  a  woman  to 
practise  household  occupations.’ 

I  have  said  enough,  I  think,  to  justify  me  in  declining 
to  accept  the  statements  regarding  the  degeneracy  of  edu¬ 
cation  in  the  first  or  even  the  second  century.  The  actual 
facts  compel  us  largely  to  discount  the  opinion  of  stern 
moralists  like  Tacitus,  or  professed  satirists  like  Juvenal 
or  Petronius  Arbiter.  There  is  no  period  of  human  his¬ 
tory  which  does  not  afford  weaknesses  to  expose  and  vices 
to  lash.  At  the  same  time,  it  was  the  fact  that  nations 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  409 

which,  like  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  had  lost  their  tradi¬ 
tionary  faith,  and  which  regarded  rhetoric  or  oratory — • 
which  at  best  was  only  intellectual  and  aesthetic  culture 
—  as  the  highest  aim  of  public  education,  were  doomed  to 
find  their  mistake.  It  was  easy  for  ambitious  young  men  — 
especially  now  that  oratorical  forms  and  the  technique  of 
rhetoric  were  settled,  and  innumerable  models  were  avail¬ 
able  —  to  scamp  grammatical  and  literary  preparation,  and 
to  mistake  glibness  of  tongue  and  facility  of  imitation  for 
true  oratorical  power.  It  was  this  tendency  which  Quin¬ 
tilian  and  Tacitus  saw  and  wished  to  arrest.  It  received  an 
impulse  from  professed  rhetoricians  and  sophists  swarming 
from  Greece  and  Asia  Minor  in  search  of  the  means  of 
support.  They  could  not  but  compete  with  each  other, 
and  offer  the  maximum  of  accomplishment  for  the  mini¬ 
mum  of  labour  on  the  part  of  the  student.  Lucian,  towards 
the  close  of  the  second  century,  exposes  the  evils  which  by 
that  time  had  become  conspicuous.  The  third  century,  I 
consider,  was  the  century  of  decadence,  and  also  of  the  rise 
of  the  Christian  schools.  Let  me  here  note  that  it  is  partly 
to  counteract  the  tendency  to  haste  and  superficiality  on 
the  part  of  ambitious  and  active  young  men  that  modern 
societies  have  instituted  and  endowed  universities  and 
schools.  Without  these,  and  the  conditions  of  sound  at¬ 
tainment  which  they  are  authorised  to  impose  as  conditions 
of  graduation  and  of  professional  qualifications,  we,  in  these 
days,  should  be  flooded  with  the  same  evils  as  overwhelmed 
the  education  of  the  ancient  world.  This  mode  of  regulat¬ 
ing  education  had  not  altogether  escaped  the  attention  of 
the  imperial  administration,  as  I  have  shown,  but  the 
measures  which  were  taken  were  inadequate  to  counteract 
the  operation  of  other  causes  in  a  dissolving  society. 

Meanwhile  a  new  formative  force  had  entered  the  world 
in  humble  guise,  and  was  steadily  making  way.  It  gathered 
into  a  unity  and  round  a  sacred  personality  the  Stoic  human¬ 
ity  and  universalism,  the  Platonic  ethical  idealism,  and  all 


410 


PRE-CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION 


the  purest  conceptions  of  the  Divine  which  the  various 
races  of  mankind  had  painfully,  and  each  only  partially, 
elaborated.  God  immanent  in  His  own  world  as  a  God 
not  only  of  law  but  of  love  —  Himself  seeking  man  to  raise 
him  to  sonship  —  was  an  overmastering  thought.  In  the 
presence  of  this  sublime  conception,  all  so-called  culture 
seemed  an  impertinence,  and  all  philosophy  merely  sub¬ 
ordinate  and  contributory.  In  the  light  of  the  great  idea, 
citizenship,  culture,  oratory,  all  alike,  as  aims  of  education 
disappear.  Citizenship  of  the  city  of  God  now  transcends 
while  it  comprehends  the  claims  of  all  earthly  cities  ;  culture 
is  the  mere  adornment  of  the  life  in  Christ,  oratory  the  mere 
vehicle  for  proclaiming  the  Evangel.  An  organised  scheme 
of  guidance  for  the  individual  spirit  during  its  transitory 
passage  to  an  eternal  life  arose  out  of  the  central  thought 
of  Christianity ;  and  this  superseded  all  previous  concep¬ 
tions  of  the  education  of  man.  Errors,  unfortunately,  were 
made.  Philosophy  and  the  products  of  human  genius  were, 
ere  long,  held  to  be  essentially  hostile  to  the  new  life. 
Many  centuries  had  to  elapse  before  Romano-Hellenic  cul¬ 
ture  was  found  to  be  compatible  with  the  Christian  aim. 

To  some  it  may  appear  that  in  the  past  pages,  while  I 
have  allowed  their  full  educational  value  to  civil  laws,  and 
the  social  organisation  of  nations,  I  have  yet  attached  too 
great  an  importance  to  national  religious  conceptions.  I 
think  not.  Outside  the  prosaic  and  prudential  moralities, 
without  which  the  most  elementary  society  cannot  sustain 
itself  for  a  day,  the  idea  of  God  and  of  man  as  related  to 
Him  governs  all  life,  and  therefore  all  education,  of  the 
human  spirit.  It  determines  all  ethics,  and  consequently 
all  civic  and  political  activity,  though  it  may  be  silently. 
For  the  idea  of  God  is  not  merely  the  conception  of  a  world- 
cause  and  world-order,  but  gathers  up  into  itself  all  the  ideal 
impulses,  infinite  in  their  essential  character,  which  place  the 
mind  of  man  on  its  highest  plane  of  energy  —  whether  in 
philosophy  and  art,  or  in  practical  politics  and  the  conduct 
of  life.  It  is  the  final  interpretation  of  man.  That  idea, 


THE  ARYAN  OR  INDO-EUROPEAN  RACES  411 


such  as  it  may  be  from  time  to  time  and  age  to  age,  lies  in 
the  innermost  core  of  consciousness  even  when  its  exis¬ 
tence  is  denied.  Epicurus  has  his  God  as  well  as  Zeno, 
Plato  no  less  than  Paul,  the  Aztec  as  well  as  the  Chinese, 
and  above  that  idea,  which  also  is  the  ideal,  no  man  and 
no  nation  can  rise.  The  educational  administrator  has  to 
think  of  these  things  if  he  is  not,  with  the  best  intentions, 
to  leave  his  country  worse  than  he  found  it,  and  sow  the 
seeds  of  dissolution.  ‘  To  govern  well,’  says  Milton,  ‘  is  to 
train  up  a  nation  in  true  wisdom  and  virtue,  and  that  which 
springs  from  thence,  magnanimity  (take  heed  of  that)  ;  and 
that  which  is  our  beginning,  regeneration  and  happiest  end, 
likeness  to  God  which  we  call  godliness :  and  this  is  the  true 
flourishing  of  a  land.  Other  things  follow,  as  the  shadow 
does  the  substance.’ 1 

Authorities.  —  Largely  loci  classici,  especially  Suetonius,  De  Gramm. 
Cicero,  De  Orat.  ;  Tacitus,  De  Orat. ;  Pliny  ;  Strabo  ;  Becker’s  G alius ;  Erzie- 
liung  und  Jugendunterricht  bci  den  Griechen  u.  Romern ,  von  J.  L.  Ussing; 
lime’s  History  of  Rome;  Mommsen’s  History  of  Rome ,  also  of  the  Roman 
Provinces;  Hegel’s  Philosophy  of  History ;  Krause’s  Geschichte  der  Erz.  etc. 
lei  den  Griechen  und  Romern;  Bahr’s  Geschichte  der  Romischen  Litter atur ; 
Emile  Jullien,  Sur  les  Professeurs  de  la  literature  dans  Vancienne  Rome; 
Lecky’s  History  of  European  Morals.  Also  several  books  mentioned  under 
Greece  and  references  to  numerous  historians. 


1  Of  Reformation  in  England,  second  book  (near  beginning). 


A  LIST  OF 


BOOKS  FOR  TEACHERS 

PUBLISHED  BY 

LONGMANS,  GREEN,  &  CO. 

91  and  93  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 


Psychology  in  the  Schoolroom. 

By  T.  F.  G.  Dexter,  B.A.,  B.Sc.,  and  A.  H.  Garlick,  B.A.,  author 
of  “A  New  Manual  of  Method.”  421  pages.  Crown  8vo.  $1.50. 

Many  students  have  little  difficulty  in  mastering  the  general 
principles  of  the  Science  of  Psychology,  but  experience  considerable 
difficulty  in  applying  those  principles  to  the  Art  of  Teaching  ;  and 
it  is  because  special  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  application  of 
the  subject  that  it  is  hoped  that  this  book  will  be  of  some  service, 
not  only  to  the  student  and  young  teacher,  but  also  to  teachers 
generally. — From  the  Preface. 

Adopted  for  the  Professional  Course  of  Study  for  Teachers  in  the  State 
of  Virginia,  and  as  a  text-book  in  Cornell  University,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 
Syracuse  University,  Syracuse,  N.  Y.;  College  of  the  City  of  New  York 
State  Normal  School,  Whitewater,  Wis.;  State  Normal  School,  Peru,  Neb. 
University  of  Mississippi;  Howard  University,  Washington,  D.  C.;  and 
many  other  leading  institutions  throughout  the  country. 


Hon.  Joseph  W.  Southall, 

State  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction,  Virginia: — “I  cannot 
commend  too  highly  Dexter  and 
Garlick’s  ‘Psychology  in  the  School¬ 
room’  to  all  teachers  who  wish  to 
learn  the  scientific  principles  on 
which  all  correct  teaching  is  based. 
It  is  a  model  text-book.” 

John  J.  McNulty,  Professor  of 
Moral  Philosophy  in  the  College  of 
the  City  of  New  York  : — “  I  have 
recommended  Dexter  and  Garlick’s 
4  Psychology  in  the  Schoolroom  ’  as 
being  the  most  practical  aid  to  a 
preparation  for  meeting  the  require¬ 
ments  for  securing  higher  licenses.” 

Hon.  Frank  J.  Browne,  State 
Superintendent  of  Wash.: — ‘‘It 
meets  the  requirements  of  the  most 
advanced  thought.  Its  adaptation  to 
the  schoolroom  is  up  to  date  and  the 
book  will  surely  make  its  own  way 
among  the  teachers  of  our  land.” 


Miss  Lucy  Wheelock,  Kinder¬ 
garten  Training  School,  Boston, 
Mass.: — “  It  has  proved  to  be  such 
a  treasure  that  we  are  to  adopt  it 
for  our  junior  class  book.  I  shall 
send  you  an  order  for  it  as  soon  as 
the  class  assembles.” 

Albert  Leonard,  Dean  of  Col¬ 
lege  of  Liberal  Arts,  Syracuse  Uni¬ 
versity,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. : — “It  is 
altogether  the  best  book  of  the  kind 
that  I  have  seen.  It  will  be  adopted 
for  use  in  our  class.” 

Charles  H.  Winston,  Professor 
in  Richmond  College,  Virginia, 
Conductor  of  State  Normal  School : 
— “After  a  practical  trial,  my 
opinion  in  brief  is  that  no  other 
book  that  I  have  seen  combines  so 
well  sound  theory  and  correct  gen¬ 
eral  principles  with  plain  and  prac¬ 
tical  applications  of  these  to  the 
details  of  daily  school  life.” 


2 


Longmans,  Green,  &  Co’s  Publications. 


German  Higher  Schools — The  History,  Organization,  and 
Methods  of  Secondary  Education  in  Germany. 

By  James  E.  Russell,  Ph.D.,  Dean  of  Teachers  College,  Columbia 
University,  New  York.  8vo.  468  pages.  With  7  Appendices  of  Tables 
and  a  Full  Index.  $2.25. 

This  book  is  the  result  of  Dr.  Russell’s  personal  investigation  of  the  Ger¬ 
man  Schools  at  the  instance  of  the  Regents  of  the  University  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  as  the  Special  Agent  of  the  United  States.  Very  little  has 
been  written  heretofore  in  English  on  the  secondary  education,  which  is  the 
foundation  of  the  German  University  training  and  the  basis  of  all  profes¬ 
sional  service  in  the  Fatherland,  although  it  is  in  this  sphere  that  German 
education  can  be  studied  to  best  advantage. 


Contents:  Beginnings  of  German  Schools — The  Rise  of  Protestant 
Schools — The  Period  of  Transition — The  Reconstruction  of  the  Higher 
Schools — The  Prussian  School  System — The  Higher  Schools  of  Prussia 
— Foundation  and  Maintenance  of  Higher  Schools — Rules,  Regulations 
and  Customs — Examinations  and  Privileges — Student  Life  in  the  Higher 
Schools — Instruction  in  Religion — Instruction  in  German — Instruction 
in  Greek  and  Latin — Instruction  in  Modern  Languages — Instruction  in 
History  and  Geography — Instruction  in  Mathematics — Instruction  in 
the  Natural  Sciences — The  Professional  Training  of  Teachers — Ap¬ 
pointment,  Promotion,  and  Emoluments  of  Teachers — Tendencies  of 
School  Reform — Merits  and  Defects  of  German  Secondary  Education — 
The  Privileged  Higher  Schools  of  Germany  in  1897 — Attendance  in 
Higher  Schools  in  Prussia — System  of  Privileges — Salary  Schedules — 
Pensions  of  Teachers  in  the  Higher  Schools  of  Germany — Extracts 
from  the  General  Pension  Laws  of  Prussia — Leading  Educational  Jour¬ 
nals  of  Germany — Index. 


The  Outlook,  New  York:—1  ‘  The 
book  abounds  in  matters  of  interest 
to  all  professional  teachers.  The 
work  is  certain  to  remain,  at  least  for 
years,  the  standard  reference-book 
and  authority  upon  this  subject.” 

The  Dial,  Chicago: — “The  au¬ 
thor  shows  wide  reading  on  this  sub¬ 
ject  and  skilful  use  of  the  note-book. 
He  sprinkles  quotations  over  his 
pages  most  plentifully,  but  he  so 
weaves  them  into  his  narrative  or 
exposition  as  not  seriously  to  impair 
the  unity  of  his  composition.  But, 
what  is  more  to  the  purpose,  he 
shows,  when  dealing  with  the  second¬ 
ary  schools  as  they  now  exist,  a  large 
first-hand  knowledge,  obtained  by 
personal  visitation  of  schools  and 
conference  with  teachers  and  educa¬ 
tional  authorities.  There  is  no  work 


in  the  English  language,  known  to 
us,  that  contains  so  much  and  so 
valuable  information  about  the  sec¬ 
ondary  schools  of  Germany.  Nor  is 
the  book  a  book  of  facts  merely  ;  the 
author  has  an  eye  also  for  ideas  and 
forces,  and  conducts  his  historical 
narration  with  constant  reference  to 
these  factors.” 

Public  Opinion,  New  York: — 
“  An  original  and  very  valuable  con¬ 
tribution  to  the  literature  of  peda¬ 
gogies.  For  Germany’s  position  in 
educational  matters  is  an  assurance 
that  one  may  learn  much  from  a 
study  of  any  of  her  schools.  After 
several  historical  chapters  each  study 
of  the  secondary  schools  is  taken  up 
separately — a  very  wise  plan  which 
greatly  simplifies  a  search  for  par¬ 
ticular  information,” 


Longmans,  Green ,  &  Co's  Publications. 


3 


AMERICAN  CITIZEN  SERIES, 

A  Series  of  Books  on  the  Practical  Workings  of  the  Functions  of  the 
State  and  of  Society,  with  Especial  Reference  to  American  Conditions 
and  Experience.  Under  the  Editorship  of  Dr.  Albert  Bushnell 
Hart,  of  Harvard  University. 

Outline  of  Practical  Sociology  with  Special  Reference  to 
American  Conditions. 


By  Carroll  D.  Wright,  United  States  Commissioner  of  Labor;  Lec¬ 
turer  in  the  Catholic  University  of  America.  Large  crown  8vo,  with 
12  Maps  and  Diagrams.  464  pages.  $2.00. 

Contents:  Parti.  The  Basis  of  Practical  Sociology.  Intro¬ 
duction — 1.  Development  of  the  Science  of  Social  Relation — 2.  The 
Population  of  the  United  States — 3.  The  Status  of  the  Population  of 
the  United  States — 4.  Native  and  Foreign  Born.  Part  II.  Units  of 
Social  Organism.  1.  Social  Units — 2.  Political  Units.  Part  III. 
Questions  of  Population,  i.  Immigration — 2.  Urban  and  Rural 
Population — 3.  Special  Problems  of  City  Life.  Part  IV.  Questions 
of  the  Family,  i.  Marriage  and  Divorce — 2.  Education — 3.  Employ¬ 
ment  of  Women  and  Children.  Part  V.  The  Labor  System,  i.  Old 
and  New  Systems  of  Labor — 2.  Appliances  of  the  Modern  Labor  Sys¬ 
tem — 3.  Relations  of  Employer  and  Employee — 4.  Questions  Relating 
to  .Strikes  and  Lockouts.  Part  VI.  Social  Well-Being,  i.  The 
Accumulation  of  Wealth — 2.  Poverty — 3.  The  Relation  of  Art  to  Social 
Well-Being — 4.  Are  the  Rich  Growing  Richer,  and  the  Poor  Poorer  ? 
Part  VII.  The  Defence  of  Society,  i.  Criminology — 2.  The  Pun¬ 
ishment  of  Crime — 3.  The  Temperance  Question — 4.  Regulation  of 
Organizations.  Part  VIII.  Remedies  :  Solutions  that  are  Proposed 
for  Social  and  Economic  Difficulties.  Maps  and  Diagrams.  Index. 


Professor  C.  M.  Geer,  Bates 
College,  Lewiston,  Me.: — “  I  am 
very  much  pleased  with  the  book,  as 
it  covers  what  ought  to  be  given  in  a 
college  course  in  sociology.” 

Professor  I.  A.  Loos,  State 
University,  Iowa  City,  la.: — “I 
think  Dr.  Wright  has  done  his  work 
remarkably  well,  and  he  alone  could 
have  given  us  just  this  work, crammed 
with  knowledge  and  good  sense, 
lighting  up  the  path  of  the  student 
through  the  mazes  of  documentary 
material.” 

American  Journal  of  Sociology, 

University  of  Chicago,  Chicago, Ill. : 
— “  Colonel  Wright  could  not  fail  to 
produce  a  notable  book  on  the  sub¬ 
ject  to  which  he  has  devoted  this 
volume.  There  is  no  equally  avail¬ 
able  compilation  and  classification.” 


Outlook,  New  York  : — “  The  in¬ 
itial  volume  ....  sets  a  high 
standard  for  its  successors  to  pre¬ 
serve.  .  .  .  These  bibliographies 
fit  the  book  peculiarly  for  advanced 
classes,  from  which  independent 
work  is  expected.  The  field  which 
the  volume  covers  is  extremely  broad. 
.  .  .  .  On  all  these  subjects  a 
prodigious  amount  of  American  sta¬ 
tistical  information  is  given.” 

Dial : — “  In  this  field  of  thought 
Mr.  Wright’s  book  presents  more 
abundant  stores  of  fact  than  any 
similar  publication.  The  statistical 
matter  is  actually  made  interesting. 

.  .  .  .  The  student  of  society 
is  here  supplied  with  a  mass  of  data 
of  great  importance,  and  is  directed 
to  abundant  and  valuable  sources  of 
information  and  discussion.” 


4 


Longmans,  Green ,  &  Co’s  Publications . 


The  Art  of  Teaching. 

By  David  Salmon,  Principal  of  Swansea  Training  College.  Crown 

8vo.  289  pages.  $1.25. 

This  book  is  devoted  to  the  exposition  of  teaching  as  a  Technical  Art, 
founded  on  experience,  philosophical  principle  and  scientific  observation. 
In  the  Introduction  the  author  adopts  Milton’s  definition  of  “  a  complete 
and  generous  education,”  but  points  out  that  the  school  teacher  is  really 
only  one  factor  in  physical,  moral,  and  intellectual  culture,  and  that,  even 
to  be  efficiently  so,  he  has  need  of  professional  training.  His  aim  must  be 
directed  to  secure  the  utility,  discipline,  and  pleasure  of  the  taught  as 
results  of  exercised  activity.  The  author  takes  up  in  successive  chapters — 

(1)  Order,  Attention,  and  Discipline,  and  gives  rules  applicable  to  the 
regulated  and  successful  exercise  of  these  that  they  may  become  habitual  ; 

(2)  Oral  Questioning — how  to  proceed  with  and  succeed  in  it,  and  what  to 
avoid  while  engaged  in  the  process  ;  (3)  Object  Lessons — what  to  aim  at  in 
giving  them,  and  how  to  accomplish  the  intended  result ;  (4)  Reading, 
Spelling,  Writing,  and  Arithmetic — how  they  should  be  taught,  and  the 
relative  merits  of  various  methods  of  procedure  ;  (5)  English,  including 
Composition,  Grammar,  and  Literature  ;  (6)  Geography,  and  how  to  make 
the  teaching  of  it  educative  and  valuable  ;  (7)  History,  and  the  methods  of 
giving  it  a  living  (not  a  bookworm)  interest ;  (8)  the  Education  of  Infants — 
as  a  speciality. 


[From  the  New  York  Nation. ] 


Salmon’s  contributions  to  elementary  school  literature  are  many  and  valu¬ 
able.  It  suffices  to  mention  his  “Object  Lessons,”  “School  Grammar,” 
“School  Composition,”  “Stories  from  Early  English  History.”  He  has 
now  collected  into  the  volume  before  us  his  views  on  the  “  Art  of  Teach¬ 
ing.”  The  treatment  of  the  subject  is  orderly,  thorough,  authoritative.  He 
takes  up  first  the  fundamental  matters  of  order,  attention,  discipline.  Then 
comes  a  charming  discussion  of  the  art  of  oral  questioning.  Next  follows  an 
estimate  of  the  claims  upon  attention  of  the  main  subjects  of  elementary  study, 
with  invaluable  hints  as  to  the  teaching  of  each.  The  subjects  treated  are  : 
Reading,  Spelling,  Writing,  Arithmetic,  English,  Geography,  History.  This 
is,  indeed,  familiar  ground,  but  the  treatment  is  so  able,  so  acute,  so  com¬ 
prehensive,  that  there  is  constant  variety  and  constant  interest.  A  very 
valuable  portion  of  the  volume  is  the  section  of  sixty  pages  on  Infant  Edu¬ 
cation.  Not  only  are  the  history  and  development  of  the  kindergarten  here 
admirably  discussed,  but  the  original  and  valuable  contributions  of  England 
to  the  Education  of  young  children  are  set  forth.  Most  wise  and  helpful  is 
Salmon’s  discussion  of  the  best  ways  of  teaching  the  elementary  studies. 
This  portion  of  the  book  is  a  true  teachers’  manual.  It  is  a  genuine  pleasure 
to  commend  without  qualification  this  admirable  manual.  It  is  a  worthy 
companion  to  Fitch’s  “Lectures  on  Teaching,”  and,  like  that  book,  ought 
to  be  on  every  teacher’s  shelf. 


H.  C.  Missimer,  Superintendent 
of  Public  Schools,  Erie,  Pa.: — “I 
have  read  Salmon’s  4  Art  of  Teach¬ 
ing,’  and  believe  it  to  be  the  best  work 
on  the  subject  yet  published.  It  is 


simple,  direct,  clear,  practical,  and 
has  evidently  been  written  by  one 
who  has  had  experience  with  every 
problem  and  difficulty  of  the  school¬ 
room.” 


Longmans,  Green ,  &  Co's  Publications . 


5 


A  New  Manual  of  Method. 

By  A.  H.  Garlick,  B.A.,  Head  Master  of  the  Woolwich  P.  T.  Centre. 
Crown  8vo.  New  Edition.  398  pages.  $1.20.* 

Contents  :  School  Economy — Discipline — Classification  (Grading) — 
Notes  of  Lessons— Class  Teaching — Object  Lessons — Kindergarten — 
Arithmetic  —  Reading  —  Spelling — Writing  —  Geography —  History — 
English — Elementary  Science — Music. 

The  experience  of  the  author  in  the  teaching  of  School  Method  has  led 
him  to  believe  that  young  students  require  much  more  help  in  this  subject 
than  is  offered  in  existing  manuals,  and  that  it  is  essential  that  the  informa¬ 
tion  contained  should  be  offered  in  its  most  serviceable  form.  His  experi¬ 
ence  has  shown  that  no  book  is  suitable  unless  it  is  comprehensive  in  its 
range,  practical  in  its  nature,  and  modern  in  its  methods.  For  this  reason 
all  the  subject-matter  in  this  book  has  been  carefully  methodized,  and  much 
of  it  thrown  into  teaching  form — the  form  which  is  most  difficult  to  young 
teachers  to  acquire,  and  the  most  useful  in  practice. 

This  work  is  based  on  the  writer’s  teaching  notes  during  the  past  ten 
years  ;  and  as  it  grew  to  meet  the  wants  of  his  own  pupils  for  their  recur¬ 
ring  examinations,  it  is  believed  that  it  will  be  found  specially  suitable  for 
teachers  and  students. 

William  H.  Maxwell,  City  Superintendent,  New  York,  in  the  Educa¬ 
tional  Review ; —  “  .  .  .  He  treats  of  all  the  subjects  in  the  elementary 

curriculum.  .  .  .  The  conspicuous  merits  of  the  book  are  its  clear¬ 

ness,  its  conciseness,  and  its  fullness.  If  a  teacher  is  at  a  loss  to  know 
how  to  teach  an  important  point, —  say  in  arithmetic,  history  or  geography, 
—  he  has  only  to  open  this  book  at  the  appropriate  heading,  and  he  will  find 
an  excellent  method  of  presenting  it,  which,  if  he  has  any  ingenuity,  he  can 
easily  adapt  to  his  own  uses.  If  he  is  in  doubt  about  a  matter  of  discipline, 
such,  for  instance,  as  how  to  treat  a  case  of  obstinacy,  he  will  find  the 
different  kinds  of  obstinacy  classified,  and  the  appropriate  treatment  sug¬ 
gested  for  each  kind.  In  short,  the  book  is  a  vade  mecum  which  the  teacher 
should  no  more  think  of  reading  through  than  he  would  of  perusing  the 
dictionary  from  cover  to  cover,  but  which  he  will  do  well  to  consult  when 
confronted  with  a  difficulty.  .  .  .  ” 

J.  J.  McNulty,  Professor  of  Philosophy,  the  College  of  the  City  of  New 
York  : — “  In  our  pedagogical  course,  we  are  using  Garlick’s  Manual  of 
Method  as  a  practical  guide  for  students  intending  to  teach.  The  remark¬ 
able  success  of  our  candidates  for  state  and  city  licenses,  and  the  satisfac¬ 
tory  results  of  the  examinations  in  methods  of  teaching,  I  attribute,  in  large 
measure,  to  the  interesting  manner  in  which  the  various  subjects  are  pre¬ 
sented  by  Mr.  Garlick.” 

Nation,  New  York  : — “  It  is  the  best  manual  of  its  scope  in  English.” 

The  Independent,  New  York  : — “  The  notes  given  on  all  these  topics 
are  those  of  a  master,  and  of  a  master  from  whom  any  teacher  in  these 
grades  of  instruction  might  be  glad  to  receive  suggestions.” 

Professor  Carla  Wenckebach,  Wellesley  College, Wellesley,  Mass.: — 
“  It  is  excellent.  No  teacher  can  do  without  it.” 


6 


Longmans,  Green,  &  Co's  Publications . 


Teaching  and  School  Organization. 

A  Manual  of  Practice,  with  Especial  Reference  to  Secondary  Instruc¬ 
tion.  Edited  by  P.  A.  Barnett.  Crown  8vo.  438  pages.  $2.00. 

The  object  of  this  Manual  is  to  collect  and  co-ordinate  for  the  use  of 
students  and  teachers,  the  experience  of  persons  of  authority  in  special 
branches  of  educational  practice,  and  to  cover  as  nearly  as  possible  the 
whole  field  of  the  work  of  Secondary  Schools  of  both  higher  and  lower 
grades. 

The  subjects  treated  in  the  22  chapters  are  as  follows  :  The  Criterion  in 
Education — Organization  and  Curricula  in  Boys’  Schools — Kindergarten — 
Reading — Drawing  and  Writing — Arithmetic  and  Mathamatics — English 
Grammar  and  Composition — English  Literature — Modern  History — Ancient 
History — Geography — Classics — Science — Modern  Languages — Vocal  Music 
— Discipline — Ineffectiveness  of  Teaching — Specialization — School  Libraries 
— School  Hygiene — Apparatus  and  Furniture — Organization  and  Curricula 
in  Girls’  Schools. 

A  Manual  of  Clay=Modelling  for  Teachers  and  Scholars. 

By  Mary  Louisa  Hermione  Unwin.  With  66  Illustrations  and  a 
Preface  by  T.  G.  Rooper,  M.A.  Balliol  College,  Oxford.  i2mo. 
$1.00. 

The  course  set  forth  in  this  Manual  is  suitable  for  children  of  six  or  seven 
years  of  age  and  upwards.  It  is  a  great  advantage  to  young  children  to 
learn  to  handle  the  clay  and  to  become  accustomed  to  using  it.  They  may 
begin  with  the  simplest  objects,  such  as  beads,  round  or  flat,  of  different 
sizes  ;  cherries  with  string  or  wicker  stalks  ;  a  sausage,  or  cigar  ;  a  small 
saucer,  or  a  basket,  a  bun,  or  an  open  pea-pod  with  loose  peas  in  it  made 
separately  ;  a  pat  of  butter,  or  a  cottage  loaf,  are  also  suitable.  For  the 
work  of  advanced  pupils,  or  for  the  higher  classes  in  schools,  more  difficult 
subjects  may  be  attempted. 

Kindergarten  Guide. 

By  Lois  Bates  With  numerous  Illustrations,  chiefly  in  half-tone,  and 
16  colored  plates.  Crown  8vo.  388  pages.  $1.50.* 

In  addition  to  a  full  description  of  the  kindergarten  gifts  and  occupations, 
the  book  shows  how  ordinary  subjects  may  be  taught  on  kindergarten 
principles. 

Churchman,  New  York: — “A  long  needed  hand-book  for  the  kinder¬ 
garten  teacher.  .  .  .  The  whole  course  of  instruction  is  elaborately 

explained  with  full  illustrations,  so  that  the  teacher  possesses,  in  this  i2mo 
volume,  a  complete  compendium  for  her  work.” 

Journal  of  Education,  Boston,  Mass.: — “  Never  before  has  there  been 
so  full,  varied,  and  detailed  a  treatment  of  the  subject  from  the  standpoint 
of  teacher,  parent,  and  child.  No  family  in  which  there  are  little  children 
should  be  without  this  sum  of  all  kindergarten  virtues.” 


Longmans,  Green,  &  Co's  Publications . 


7 


Common  Sense  in  Education. 

By  P.  A.  Barnett,  M.  A.  Crown  8vo.  331  pages.  $1.50. 

This  volume  is  based  on  a  systematic  course  of  lectures  on  the  Practice 
of  Education,  which  was  delivered  to  Teachers  during  the  last  term  of  1898. 
The  lectures  have  been  re-written  and  enlarged,  and  additional  matter 
treated,  so  as  to  form  a  complete  introduction  to  the  study  of  current  prob¬ 
lems  of  teaching  and  school  practice.  Such  points  of  general  theory  are 
discussed  as  determine  organization,  curriculum,  and  schoolroom  procedure. 

The  subject  of  education  is  treated  under  the  following  general  heads  :  — 
1.  Lessons  from  the  Plistory  of  Education  ;  Warnings  from  Demonstrated 
Errors — 2.  The  Physical  Basis  of  Education,  and  the  Hygiene  of  Learning 
— 3.  The  General  Discipline  of  Character — 4.  Discipline  in  Instruction — 5. 
Curricula — 6.  Audible  Speech  ;  Native  and  Foreign  Languages — 7.  Liter¬ 
ature — 8.  Science  and  Mathematics — 9.  History  and  Geography — 10.  The 
“  Classical  ”  Languages — 11.  Special  Studies  and  Examinations — 12.  The 
Making  of  the  Teacher. 


Paul  H.  Hanus,  Harvard  Uni¬ 
versity,  Cambridge,  Mass.  :  —  “I 
have  looked  the  book  through  with 
much  interest.  While  I  cannot  agree 
with  all  the  author’s  views,  I  am  glad 


to  see  that  the  book  justifies  the 
title.  I  shall  take  pleasure  in  calling 
the  attention  of  students  and  teach¬ 
ers  to  it.” 


Selections  from  the  Sources  of  English  History  :  being 
a  Supplement  to  Text-books  of  English  History, 
B.C.  55 — A.D.  1832. 

Arranged  and  edited  by  Charles  W.  Colby,  M.A.,  Ph.D.,  Professor 
of  History  in  McGill  University,  Montreal.  Crown  8vo.  361  pages. 

$1.50. 


Professor  Max  Farrand, 

Wesleyan  University,  Middletown, 
Conn.  :  —  “  The  most  satisfactory 
expression  of  opinion  that  I  can 
make  to  you,  I  suppose,  of  Colby’s 
Selections,  is  the  announcement  that 
I  am  so  greatly  pleased  with  it  that 
I  shall  adopt  it  for  use  in  my  class 
in  English  History  for  next  year.” 

Professor  Benjamin  S.  Terry, 

University  of  Chicago,  Chicago, 
Ill.: — “  It  is  a  good  book,  and 
something  which  the  teacher  of 
English  History  has  long  needed. 
I  shall  be  very  glad  to  use  it  in  my 
own  work.” 

Julius  Howard  Pratt,  Jr., 

Milwaukee  Academy,  Milwaukee, 
Wis. : — “  It  is  very  satisfactory  to 


have  books  of  this  kind  that  give 
a  glimpse  at  the  original  sources  in 
a  way  to  attract  rather  than  to  repel 
the  young  student.” 

Professor  Allen  Johnson,  Iowa 
College,  Grinnell,  Iowa: — “Let  me 
add  simply  that  I  am  greatly  pleased 
with  the  presswork  of  this  volume  ;  it 
is  a  pleasure  to  put  so  faultless  a  piece 
of  work  into  the  hands  of  students.” 

Journal  of  Education,  Boston  : 
— “Few  ‘supplements’  are  as  indis¬ 
pensable  to  the  satisfactory  study  of 
any  subject  as  is  Dr.  Colby’s  ‘  Selec¬ 
tions  from  the  Sources  of  English 
History.’  It  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  no  teacher  should  conduct  a  class 
in  English  history  without  making 
constant  use  of  this  book.” 


8 


Longmans ,  Green ,  Gr  Co's  Publications . 


ANNOUNCEMENTS. 

American  Teachers’  Series. 

Messrs.  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.  have  the  pleasure  to  announce  that 
they  have  arranged  for  the  publication  of  a  series  of  books  for  the 
guidance  and  assistance  of  teachers  in  elementary  and  secondary  schools, 
and  of  students  in  normal  schools  and  teachers’  colleges  ;  to  be  pub¬ 
lished  under  the  general  title  of  American  Teachers'  Series.  The  series 
will  be  under  the  general  editorship  of  Dr.  James  E.  Russell,  Dean 
of  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  New  York. 

The  following  volumes  are  now  in  preparation  ;  others  will  be  announced 
at  an  early  date  : 

I.  English. 

By  George  R.  Carpenter  and  Franklin  T.  Baker,  Professors  in 
Columbia  University. 

II.  Manual  Training. 

By  Charles  R.  Richards,  Professor  of  Manual  Training  in  Teachers 
College  ;  late  Director  of  the  Department  of  Science  and  Technology 
in  Pratt  Institute. 

III.  Latin  and  Greek. 

By  Charles  E.  Bennett,  Professor  of  Latin  in  Cornell  University 
and  George  P.  Bristol,  Professor  of  Greek  in  Cornell  University 

IV.  History  and  Civics. 

By  Henry  E.  Bourne,  Professor  of  History  in  the  Western  Reserve 
University,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

V.  Mathematics. 

By  J.  W.  A.  Young,  Ph.D.,  Assistant  Professor  of  Mathematical 
Pedagogy  in  the  University  of  Chicago. 

VI.  Chemistry  and  Physics. 

By  Alexander  Smith,  Ph.D.,  Assistant  Professor  of  General  Chem¬ 
istry  in  the  University  of  Chicago;  and 


Messrs.  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.  will  be  happy  to  send  their 
Catalogue,  describing  more  than  1,000  text-books  and 
works  of  reference,  to  any  teacher  on  request. 


Date  Due 

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